Or on a more casual note, the versatile pink and chum salmon, frozen in 4-ounce portions, can be baked, grilled or barbecued quickly into build-your-own burgers.

The nutritious 180-calorie entree costs about 83 cents apiece, with 23 grams of protein and 1,000 milligrams of Omega-3 oil per serving. It adds up to $3.33 a pound for Premium Alaskan Trident Salmon Burgers, sold for $9.99 a 12-pack at Costco Wholesale stores in Anchorage. Recipes for salmon Benedict, Caesar salad and burgers are included on the wrapper.

"It's a very consistent selling item for us," said Deb Cain, vice president and general merchandise manager for Costco's Northwest region. "In the Northwest right now, it's doing great. We are very happy with the sales."

Food demonstrators handing out salmon burger samples at Costco in Anchorage Sept. 1 reported that customers said they were very good, but they had better be Alaska fish.

That they are, said John Salle, Trident's director of marketing. "We use pink or chum."

Trident confirms it is ocean-caught wild salmon on the packaging. "All of our harvesting is done in the clear, icy waters of the North Pacific," the labeling states.

Not that it's a sweet story of overnight success. "It took about four years to develop," Salle said. "We have been selling it for the last two years."

Costco introduced the salmon burgers in February and has continued to support sales with a coupon promotion and sample demonstrations, Cain said.

For a relatively new product it is doing well nationally too, she said.

Trident, which has already sold thousands of pounds of burgers, also markets the product in 11.2-ounce retail boxes at the QFC, Haggen and Top Food Co. Supermarkets in the Pacific Northwest, and with food service customers. The processing giant also introduced salmon burgers to the concession menu at the Seattle Seahawks Stadium this fall and is offering samples to Seahawks fans at pre-game functions, Salle said.

"We have done just one game so far, and the response has been excellent," Salle said. "It's one of the more healthy options (at the concession stands).

"We are trying to diversify the (salmon) market. We believe highly in it," he continued. "It takes a long time to get sales to where we would like them to be. It is still early, but we are very pleased so far, especially in the Alaska markets."

Whether the success of such value-added salmon will pay off for fishermen in that processors like Trident buy more fish at a higher price remains to be seen. Salle would say only that this would be a new market that hopefully increases consumer demand for salmon.

For Alaska salmon fishermen, who are paid an average of 4 cents to 12 cents a pound for pinks, the success of the salmon burgers offered a glimmer of hope, said Diane Platt, executive director of Cordova District Fishermen United.

"With good marketing and enough product getting out there, and a positive attitude on the nutritional value, it will eventually come back to the fishermen," Platt said.

"Fishermen are the ones who get the least, but they have the highest risk, and the cost of operating a vessel is growing every year," she said.

The highest price ever paid for pinks in the Gulf of Alaska was 89 cents a pound in the late 1970s, she said. Right before the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, fishermen were getting 82 cents a pound for pinks, she said.

The pinks, also known as humpbacks or humpies, are the smallest of the Pacific salmon found in North America, with an average weight of 3.5 pounds to 4 pounds. In August, pinks were fetching a nickel to 15 cents a pound, with the highest prices for hand-trolled Southeast humpies, according to the Salmon Market Information Service.

Chums, also known as dog salmon, vary in size from 4 pounds to more than 30 pounds, but usually range from 7 pounds to 18 pounds. In August, chum prices ranged from 10 cents to 25 cents a pound, with the highest prices for hand-trolled harvests, the Salmon Market Information Service said.

"I believe the fishermen in this generation are looking (at the market) more from a business prospective and making a conscious effort to be involved, stay informed and have a voice (in the market)," Platt said. "If consumers are aware of the low price fishermen are paid, it will make the processors more accountable in the future to adjust the prices (paid to fishermen) accordingly.

"The more products that get out ... it can't do anything but positively impact the fishermen," she said. "If there is supply and demand, eventually it will come back to us."