Salmon Pot Luck

The largest Sockeye salmon run in nearly a century is currently happening in the Fraser River near Vancouver. It is estimated that 25 million salmon are returning to the river this year after many years of very low stocks. So this year fishing is being allowed, both by commerical fisheries and also by the Native fisheries. I was lucky enough to be invited to a friend's BBQ last weekend when his friends from the Stó:lō band came by to sell some of the fish they had caught.



Apparently they would usually keep their catch for themselves, but numbers are so high they are able to sell them and for the ridiculously reasonable price of $15 per fish. I came home with two enormous fish which I made into steaks and fillets and are now taking up a substantial amount of space in the freezer. I have enough salmon till last till Christmas I think!



Some of the fish was also filleted on site by Kerry-Ann who had been fishing it out of the Fraser at 4am that morning. Alongside that on the BBQ we had the salmon roe cooked in a skillet, traditional style. And the recipe advice from Kerry-Ann for cooking salmon is to make a paste of mayonnaise, worcestershire sauce and garlic, smear it over the fish and bake.