Salmon have been abundant in Alaskan waters for thousands of years and remain so today, while American Atlantic waters have been sorely impacted by overfishing. Salmon was so frequently on the menu in early New England that indentured servants insisted on a clause in their contracts limiting salmon to one meal a week. Then in the nineteenth century most commercial salmon came from the Atlantic. It was canned in New England and shipped to California beginning in 1840. By 1864 the process was reversed, with canned salmon produced in California and sent east.

A majority of salmon today (around 70%) are not even fished anymore, they are farmed on fish farms. Alaskan Salmon is a prime exception though. They live freely in the Pacific Ocean until the time they decide to return to the rivers of Alaska where they were conceived.

Alaska is also the home to over 130 species of predators which also consume Salmon. For this reason among others the Salmon market in Alaska is watched closely for any overfishing that could cause instabilities in the Alaskan environment. This is why there are such vast numbers of the wonder fish today.

The close resource of Salmon made made it a common meal for the native people of Alaska due to the wide numbers of them throughout the year and the simplicity of smoking and preserving. The natives of Alaska respect this well desired product with tales from the past of Seas Gods taking away the Salmon if they were disrespected in anyway.

There are many combinations of smoking to choose from when smoking Alaskan Salmon. Things which are considered in the smoking process are the temperatures, and the type of cure to be used. Cold smoking gives a lighter smoked taste, but offer more of the natural flavor of the Salmon, while hot smoking produces a much more smokier taste.

Spices, and cures also play vital roles in the smoking process of salmon. The veterans of smoking often have a priced recipe for their cures. Dry cures are a mix of herbs or fruit, sea salt, and sugar. This is used commonly to produce cursed, not smoked fish. Wet cure means the meat must be soaked in a solution of brine which can contain pepper, sugar, other spices, and salt.

The species of the salmon also plays a vital role in the out come of flavoring. There are five different varieties of salmon to choose from in Alaska, and each one offers a strikingly unique flavor compared to one another.

Today shoppers can easily find smoked salmon in their local supermarket. This is usually cold-smoked farm-raised fish. But the true connoisseur will look to Alaskan Smoked Salmon. The combination of brine recipes, the woods used in the smoking process, the different temperatures in the smokehouse, the species and the wild origin of the salmon produces an array of magnificent flavors that rival the vintages of fine wine.