Branding Cook Inlet salmon: A better product that reaches a wider market will be the result of this salmon-branding project.

• Author: Jackinsky, McKibben

The process might not be the same as branding cattle, but if the program to brand Cook Inlet sockeye salmon is successful, it will accomplish the same thing: differentiating these salmon from all other salmon in the world. And its success will prove a boost to the Kenai Peninsula.

"In 1980, the amount of people involved in seafood was 16.2 percent on the Kenai Peninsula," said Dale Bagley, mayor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. "Today, 3.9 percent of the work force is involved with commercial fishing. But if we can turn it around and make more jobs, that benefits the peninsula. And if we can develop a market for better quality salmon, then we're going t raise the price and help out commercial fishermen."

At the December 2000 World Trade Center Alaska Food Forum in Kenai, Bagley heard presentations on the quality standards that had been developed for Copper River salmon and the successful branding program of Western Alaska Arctic keta, or chum salmon. His curiosity led to a needs assessment. And the needs assessment led to a program plan that was put together by Seafood Market Developers and endorsed by a steering committee of local fishermen, processors, industry leaders, elected officials and borough staff.

It pulled heavily on the expertise of Chris Mitchell, of Seafood Market Developers, and Lisa Goche, of Surefish Inc, seafood quality specialists in Seattle.

"Years ago Alaska wild salmon was really the only major source of salmon, but in more recent years the importation of farmed salmon has skyrocketed," Goche said. "Some of the practices from the past are still in place, such as throwing fish, stepping on them, and not chilling the salmon. Those cause quality degradation. Now there's competition, and there didn't used to be."

Goche's background includes more than 15 years working in Alaska's seafood industry, both on boats and on shore.

"I've seen (those practices) myself and, frankly, contributed to the problem years ago," she admitted.

QUALITY FISH, QUALITY BRANDING

Now working with consumers worldwide, she recognizes the need for Alaska's salmon industry to provide a consistent quality product for a reasonable price.

Chris Mitchell was the executive director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation when that organization created a program to breathe life into Western Alaska's salmon fishery. The Western Alaska Salmon Marketing Program focused on chums, a fishery common throughout the region.

The first change was to process...