Frequently Asked Questions
Our Wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon are caught and immediately iced right on the boat. We deliver straight to our custom processor’s waiting ice trucks on the shore and the catch is hauled just off the beach to be sorted. Then, each fillet is vacuum sealed and flash-frozen by our custom processor right on the shore of Bristol Bay.
We then ship the salmon via sub-zero cargo container to our cold storage facilities in the lower 48 for distribution right to your doorstep. Scheduled pickup is available for our local customers, and we also offer FREE 2-day shipping. For an additional fee, you can choose expedited delivery if you need your salmon even sooner!
Our salmon is packed in environmentally friendly containers and some dry ice to keep things frosty. You can thaw and enjoy it the same day or store in your deep freeze for many months to come thanks to the vacuum sealing. Better yet, share a fillet or two with your friends, family and neighbors. You’ll be giving them a rare combination of delicious meets healthy with nature’s superior protein source – Tom’s Wild Alaskan Salmon.
Like most wild fillets at the grocery, our fillets still contain a row of fine, hairlike bones common to all salmon and trout species. These are typically removed with culinary tweezers when the fillet is being prepared for cooking. While it may add a minute or two in preparation at home, these bones are a symbol of our product’s superior freshness, suspended in time with our flash-freezing right on the shore of Bristol Bay in Alaska.
Since our salmon are processed and frozen the same day they are caught, it is not possible to use automation to remove these bones as happens with some lower quality product or processes. For example, in other processes, the fish has to sit on ice for 1-2 days before it can be run through a pin-boning machine – NOT at Tom’s. Worse yet, automated pin-boning is sometimes done at a secondary overseas location weeks later, which involves thawing and re-freezing the fillets, damaging the texture of the flesh – NEVER at Tom’s.
We fish in Bristol Bay, Alaska, specifically the “Naknek” district and deliver our salmon directly to ice trucks waiting on the village beach, sometimes making multiple deliveries each tide. Why does this detail matter? While all Bristol Bay salmon is legendary for its quality and abundance, this proximity to our custom processor allows for smaller, high frequency hauls, all contributing to the freshness and premium quality you’ll find at Tom’s.
All of our product is filleted, vacuum sealed and flash-frozen the same day it is caught right on the shore of Bristol Bay in Alaska. While fresh is great, you will be amazed at how well the modern vacuum sealing and flash-freezing technology performs. Because our salmon is only thawed once in your kitchen right before cooking instead of days earlier at the grocery, your dinner guests will swear it came straight off the boat that morning.
But don’t just take it from us… Cook’s Illustrated says, “Fresh versus Frozen? It’s Fine—and Potentially Better—to Buy Frozen Salmon... …If it’s been vacuum-sealed and the label indicates that it was flash-frozen immediately after harvest, it may taste fresher than the fish behind the counter (which is often flash-frozen fish that’s been thawed).”
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/641-how-to-buy-prep-and-cook-salmon
Now if you’re a real salmon adventurer and want that right out of the water experience, come to Alaska with us! No seriously, we will introduce you to the Bristol Bay area and connect you with local guides for sightseeing or some world class sports fishing just upstream from our legendary commercial fishing grounds. We always let a plenty of big ones past us that you can hook into ????.
