"Alaska fish and shellfish is way ahead of everyone in the fine dining category, and it's doing fairly well in mid-scale and casual dining," said ASMI Director Ray Riutta. "To build on that momentum we're going to be focusing on that sector over the next few years. A move to No. 2 speaks well for our branding efforts, and certainly for our seafood products and their receptability in the restaurant business."

Riutta said the growing recognition of the Alaska name shows that people are discriminating in terms of the products they want.

"They are really staring to understand that Alaska seafood is something special," he said.

So what product is ranked No. 1 on the most-recognized list? Oreo.

Others that come in below Alaska Seafood are Kahlua, Bailey's Irish Cream, Hershey's, Snickers, Tilamook cheese and certified black Angus beef.

The Alaska brand got a big boost last week from the New York Times, which featured no fewer than three articles about wild salmon. One article, titled "Where Salmon is Sold, Playing the Wild Card," discussed how supermarkets as well as restaurants are eyeing wild salmon with new interest, especially due to recent scientific reports that revealed farmed salmon has seven times the polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and dioxins than does wild salmon.

"There's a lot of resistance to farm raised," said Tim Rose, Costco senior vice president for food and fresh foods. Rose added that Costco is considering stocking wild fillets on a regular basis.

"We have seen an increase in demand for wild salmon, but we can't say specifically whether it was the studies or just a demand for more natural food," said Dave Alameda, national director of seafood for A&P Supermarkets. The article ended by saying: "Mindful of consumers' fears and environmental issues raised by aquaculture, salmon farmers are changing their methods, including buying fish feed with fewer PCBs."

A second article highlights trolling for king salmon with Eric, Sarah and Chris Jordan of Sitka aboard their fishing vessel, I Gotta. A third article said Alaska hopes to sell 20 million pounds of wild salmon fillets this year, up 400 percent over 2003.

No block for farmed black cod

British Columbia fishermen this week lost another in a series of legal battles to stop the sale of hatchery-raised black cod fingerlings to fish farmers. The decision by an Ottawa judge allows Sablefin Hatcheries on Saltspring Island to sell roughly 30,000 juvenile black cod to "grow out" farms this year. The lawsuits stem from the Canadian Sablefish Association, a fishermen's group that claims black cod farming will cause environmental harm and cripple the industry in Canada and the United States. The judge ruled there was not enough proof that farmed black cod would cause "irreversible damage," according to industry reports.

More than 40 permits have quietly been granted in British Columbia which will allow farmers to raise black cod in offshore net pens. The Alaska Longline Fisherman's Association will begin looking at ways to pitch in to help the Canadian fishermen, director Linda Behnken told the Juneau Empire.

"Up to now we've stayed out of the legal battle. Maybe at this point we are going to have to jump in to help them financially," she said.

A new study from the University of Washington revealed that a major expansion in farmed black cod would drastically undercut prices for both the catch and the value of quota shares in the United States and Canada. The study, authored by Dr. Dan Huppert and Barbara Best, states that the total world catch of black cod now averages only about 65 million pounds, nearly all of which goes to Japan. If just another 1 million pounds is brought to market, it would drive down fishermen's prices by 62 percent, the study said.

Cod goes green

Pacific cod from Alaska could be the first to get a coveted eco-label from the international Marine Stewardship Council. Bering Select Seafoods and its affiliate, Clipper Seafoods, applied for the MSC certification for codfish taken by freezer longliners in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI). Both companies own vessels that catch, process and freeze the fish onboard.

Paul Gilliland, president of Bering Select, said the eco-label makes a big difference in the marketplace, especially in Europe.

"People want to know more and more where their food comes from, and in the case of seafood, if it's from a sustainable resource. Seafood distributors in Europe, and increasingly in the U.S., are offering their customers a choice for sustainable seafoods with the belief that a sizable sector of the public will prefer these products," Gilliland said.

Alaska cod catches vary each year depending on strict annual quotas. The BSAI hook and line freezer fleet of 37 vessels usually harvests about 220 million pounds. The fishery will now undergo intense scrutiny by an independent scientific team in a process that usually takes one year. If certified, the Pacific cod freezer longline fishery will join 10 other fisheries which boast the MSC label. Alaska salmon was the first fishery in the world to merit the label. Other Alaska fisheries in various stages of the certification process are pollock, halibut and sablefish (black cod).

On a related note, for the first time a MSC label is appearing on a product other than fish. Vital Choice Seafoods new Sockeye Salmon Oil Dietary Supplement features the MSC logo, telling customers the product is "healthy for you and the environment."

The supplement, which is produced in a Bristol Bay processing facility, provides the highest levels of "necessary heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids and 32 other fatty acids and micro-nutrients essential for healthy living, disease prevention, mental wellness and pre- and postnatal development," Vital Choice founder Randy Hartnell said in a press release. "While most experts recommend fish as the best source of Omega-3s, we recognize that not everyone is able to eat as much fish as they should. Vital Choice sockeye salmon oil supplements provide an excellent solution for these individuals."

The product is available in 1,000 milligram pharmaceutical grade soft gel capsules. Learn more at www.vitalchoice.com.

Sniff this

Scottish scientists have unveiled an electronic nose that tells if fish is fresh.

Until now, the process has demanded experts who peer, prod and sniff their way to a decision. Seafood.com reports that Paul Nesvadba, head of food physics at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, led a 600,000-pound, six-nation project to develop instruments that mimic human senses to take rapid measurements of freshness. The research used instruments to compress fish flesh to measure its firmness, and optical methods to track the appearance of skin and coarseness of protein fibers. Scientists also tracked production of volatile compounds which are responsible for fish odor.

By combining the four measurements the team was able to estimate the age of fish to within half a day.

"The results showed that the instrumental measurements can be as good as those of a trained sensory panel," Nesvadba said.