Salmon Season has Arrived Around DC

Posted 15 March 2017 by Carol Brighton

Through a unique harvest, seafood aficionados around of nation's capital have the opportunity to enjoy some of the tastiest and most sustainable salmon produced for a few precious weeks. While salmon is typically sourced from the oceans and rivers near the coast, Spring Hill salmon comes from deep in the mountains of West Virginia.

Jeffrey Lewis, a top chef in the Washington metro area reports that "for the fourth year in a row, Atlantic salmon harvested at Freshwater’s facility in Shepherdstown, West Virginia will appear in select Wegmans stores and D.C.-area restaurants for a limited time.  The harvest is limited each year, lasting for several weeks in March and April. A handful of D.C.- and Baltimore-area restaurants will begin serving Freshwater’s Spring Hill salmon this week, including my restaurant, the Chart House in Alexandria, as well as Chef Chad Gauss’ The Food Market in Baltimore and Bryan Voltaggio’s restaurants VOLT, RANGE, AGGIO and others."

The salmon are produced in a pollution free, land based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) managed by the Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute. The research facility operating for three decades is conducting state-of-the-art aquaculture science to develop a farming method that is environmentally friendly and economically viable. With pioneering techniques, they are optimizing a fish farming model far from the coast that can be replicated anywhere.

The Freshwater Institute cultivation method alleviates the health and environmental concerns associated with one of consumers' favorite seafoods. In the filtered tank based system, where water and waste are recycled, 10 - 11 pound salmon are produced free of pests, toxins, and disease without harmful additives like antibiotics or hormones. The institute also achieves high returns on its comparatively low feed to meat ratio. Instead of up to 7 pounds of feed required for one pound of beef, Freshwater's ratio is closer to one to one. With a natural diet sourced in North America that is also GMO and forage fish free, the Spring Hill Salmon brand has received a best choice rating from the Monterey Bay Aquariums's Seafood Watch Program. According to Steve Summerfelt, the director of aquaculture systems research at the Freshwater Institute, "the diet contained only byproduct fish oils—sourced from a white fish processing plant in Oregon—that provide high levels of heart- and brain-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. Because no additional wild fish were caught or farmed to produce these oils, the end-product maintains a zero fish in:fish out ratio."

In an interview with Fish Farming Expert, Summerfelt expressed great enthusiasm for the potential of land based recirculating aquaculture salmon production in the future projecting that "within 10 years, the annual global production for RAS-produced market-sized salmon could reach 100,000-200,000 MT." He added that, "I think that all US RAS fish producers show special promise, because they can provide a truly fresh and local ‘farm to table’ option at the seafood counter and on restaurant menus.”

The value of the RAS product is likewise reflected in its flavor. Chef Lewis asserts "the quality is hands down the best farm-raised salmon that I have ever tasted. I would compare it to Wild King salmon in flavor and texture, and the buttery texture is better than Chilean sea bass. We have had many guests compliment the Freshwater Institute salmon and say it is the best they have ever had. I would have to agree with them."

Read more about regional sustainable food endeavors on the Tidewater Current Food Page. Info on innovative aquaculture efforts can be found in this 2015 Tidewater Current Post.