Starting this month with the salmon opener at Copper River, Boston-based Legal Seafoods will more than double its use of Alaskan salmon.

"We'll start off with at least 2 or 3 tons of fresh, whole salmon a week. We'll fillet and portion it in our plant and also provide some to supermarkets, so that amount could greatly increase," company president Roger Berkowitz said in a phone interview.

Legal Seafoods has operated for more than 50 years and now has 30 family-owned restaurants from Massachusetts to Florida, plus fish markets, a catering facility and an Internet mail order business. Berkowitz said Legal Seafoods is the first major restaurant company in America to commit to specifying the origin of its salmon on its menus and through its servers.

"I am a firm believer in wild product. Alaska wild salmon is the purest, most healthy and most environmentally sustainable - in short, the best there is. We have a responsibility to provide it to the consumer," he added.

Berkowitz said anyone can serve farmed product, calling it a no brainer.

"We want to make customers aware that there are five different types of Alaska salmon, and that it is available most of the year," he said.

Berkowitz said the biggest challenge will be reintroducing wild salmon to East Coast taste buds, and making people aware that not all salmon tastes the same.

"The education process we'll have to go through is getting people to understand that farmed salmon is much like the jug wine of California in the 1970s. As people's taste became more sophisticated, they started to migrate to the different boutique and varietals. We can draw a similar analogy with what we'll have to do to get people used to the different flavor profiles of the wild product," he said.

Legal Seafoods also plans to highlight other kinds of Alaska seafood.

"I like black cod a lot and I can see us using more of that as time goes on. I am a huge fan of halibut cheeks! That is one of the great cuts of fish of all times and we certainly intend to use that. Petersburg shrimp presents some interesting opportunities. And I recently tasted oysters from Prince of Wales Island, which were as good as any we've ever tasted, and we're interested in that as well," Berkowitz said.

Meanwhile, Berkowitz said that a Washington, D.C., advertising campaign, including television, radio and print, will be launched this month, followed by blitzes in Boston, New York and southern Florida. Alaska Airlines, which offers daily service to each of those areas, will participate with several promotions, including a contest in which consumers can win trips to Alaska.

Berkowitz said he is excited and proud to be working so closely with Alaska's seafood industry, adding: "This is the start of a long-term commitment to Alaska wild salmon. More and more consumers are looking for the unique flavor and nutrition of all-natural products. I don't think there is a healthier product than wild Alaska salmon. We are going to try and wean people off the farmed and onto the wild."

Country of origin labels un-COOL?

New country of origin labels (COOL) will come with a big cost that could be passed onto fishermen and consumers. The COOL laws are set to go into effect this September for seafood at retail counters all across America. The labels are intended to help customers quickly identify where their foods come from, and in the case of seafood, if it is wild or farmed. It seems like a dream come true for Alaska salmon - but some are cautioning that implementing the COOL laws will cost more than $150 million - and the program includes huge fines. That has prompted the meat, fruit and vegetable folks to opt out of the COOL program for two more years in hopes of developing a voluntary, not mandatory, labeling program.

"There is a lot of concern over the fact that they have to file more reports and keep records for two years. And if something is mislabeled, there can be fines up to $10,000," said Jack Block, a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary and vice president for the Food Marketing Institute.

"The intention is good. We want to sell all the U.S. product we can, whether it's beef or pork or salmon or fruits and vegetables. But there is a better way to do it. You will save a lot of money by not getting the government involved and labeling products voluntarily," he insisted.

Block cautioned that the increased costs will be passed onto fishermen and consumers, and will tend to make seafood more expensive. "You are already competing with beef, pork and lamb - why do you want to take the chance of making seafood cost more when those groups are pulling out of this thing?" Block said.

A working group formed by other food producers is already crafting a voluntary labeling program, but seafood groups have yet to decide if they want to join that effort.

Block added that there is still time for Congress to put the brakes on the COOL laws. "It is an election year and not as much legislation is moving. If the seafood industry and the Alaska leadership decide a voluntary program is the way to go, I am convinced it can be done this year, even at this late date," Block said.

Meanwhile, Jack Block added this advice: "I would think that if the Alaskan producers think they can sell more seafood by labeling it 'wild' - then just do it!"

Catfish goes to the dogs

Dogs down south are sniffing out fish that shouldn't land on people's plates. Seafood.com reports that scientists at the Aquatic Animal Health Research unit in Alabama, along with veterinary students at Auburn University, have trained dogs to detect a muddy flavor in catfish. The muddy flavor comes from algae and other substances in ponds where the fish are raised, and it costs the catfish industry up to $50 million a year.

The dogs are taken from local animal shelters, and the breed does not make a difference when it comes to their sharp noses. They are trained over several months to sniff small samples of pond water - when they detect the chemicals that give the catfish an off flavor, the dogs immediately sit down and are rewarded with a treat. Five dogs have so far been trained to sniff the culprit compounds at an amazing 10 parts per trillion. The researchers say the dogs are as accurate as more expensive scientific tests and much quicker, and they can replace human taste testers as well. The Alabama researchers hope to soon make the dog seafood detection system practical for use at fish processing plants.