Copper River salmon 2010?

[bortukan]

Has anyone seen Copper River salmon in Phoenix-area grocery stores yet? It seems like it should be time about now...

I got a frozen bag of wild-caught Copper River fillets at CostCo recently that was relatively inexpensive and tasted like pretty good regular salmon, but somehow lacked the fresh Copper River deliciousness.

[bortukan]

Thanks for all the replies! We had some Copper River sockeye from CostCo as hungryinaz described (but in Chandler), and it was great! It was indeed about $20 for what should have been four servings (but my husband and I managed to eat it all in one meal!). I haven't seen any at Basha's, it sounds like it went fast there. I'll probably check AJs tomorrow, too.

[misohungrychewlow]

I bought some from AJ's at 44th & Camelback 2-3 weeks ago for $28.99/lb. (Chinook/king) and it was fantastic -- succulent, delicious, prepared only with ground pepper, a hint of sea salt and the slightest slick of olive oil to keep it from sticking on a good, hot grill. It's near my gym and I duck in a couple of times a week to check things out. It's usually later in the day/evening, and the board says either "coming soon" or is erased. Meanwhile, I picked up some Columbia River king 1-2 weeks ago for $25.99/lb. and it was 99% + as good as the Copper River was. Last week I was in there and a woman bought what looked like a tired 6 oz. piece from the back corner of the case. I'm sure it was good but it was the last piece left. I was buying halibut that night anyway. A few days ago I picked up some "wild river (chalk board)" chinook that was labeled "Oregon" in the case ($25.99) -- it was very good but not as sublime as the others mentioned above.

By the way -- I've read that Yukon River king is among the very best because of the long, arduous journey in very cold water -- the salmon are especially fat and hardy -- any comments? Where is it for sale? It would appear to be a large fishery. Where can I get some?

[ipsedixit]

Yukon River salmon season is late this year, probably won't show up in markets until after Father's Day (i.e., another 2 weeks or so at the earliest).

That said, I've never seen Yukon River King in any Phoenix area fish markets. I've only seen Yukon River kettle and coho salmon at A&J's.

Someone mentioned to me the other day (a fishmonger at a local market) that Costco had Yukon River in years past -- but did not specify what kind.

[Phoenix99]

Basha's have it at $9.99 a pound but apparently don't have enough product to stock all their stores. AJ's has had it for about a week. I took a look a couple of days ago at Fry's and at least the one closest to me didn't look that good. Identified as Copper River and I'm sure it was but just didn't look as good as what I get at AJ;s.

[hungryinaz]

I bought it at the Costco in East Mesa a few days ago and it was delicious! I can't remember the price per pound but I bought the cheapest piece I could find which was almost $19. It was enough for 4 for dinner.

[Rubee]

Today's flier from Fry's shows first of the season, wild-caught Copper River salmon on sale for $19.99 lb, without card $29.99 lb. I assume this is at those Fry's that have lobster tanks and a seafood counter.

[ipsedixit]

Only Sockeye, no King.

[hohokam]

A quick scan of the Google news results suggests that the Copper River salmon fishery may be having a down year compared to 2009, which was also a below-average year. :-/