5 Signs You’re Buying Wild-Caught Salmon

You've likely heard about fish fraud or seen stories about one fish species being sold as another, but can you identify if it’s happening to you?

You don’t need to be an expert in marine biology to spot the key indicators — if you know what to look for. We turned to Anders Miller, manager and owner of Seattle’s famous Pike Place Fish Company, for the inside scoop on identifying fresh, wild salmon.

“The Northwest is synonymous with wild salmon,” explains Miller, who estimates he has 500 pounds of King salmon available on display at the time of our conversation. Unfortunately, he notes, some retailers try to pass off lesser quality fish as wild, hoping to charge a premium.

That doesn’t mean all farmed salmon is of poor quality. Some farms excel at producing high-quality fish and care for them properly. However, these are typically not the ones attempting to deceive consumers. Here are five clear signs that prove you’re purchasing authentic wild salmon:

It has the right color.

Farmed salmon tends to be lighter and more pink, while wild-caught salmon boasts a richer, reddish-orange color. Farmed fish also show more visible fat marbling (the white streaks), as they don't exert the same energy fighting upstream currents. Miller explains that if you notice fillets with a perfectly uniform color, it’s a good bet they’re farmed.

It has a swimmer's tail.

If you’re looking at a whole fish, identifying the real deal is even easier, especially if the fins are still intact. “Wild salmon have broad, fan-shaped tails,” says Miller. In contrast, farmed salmon often have smaller, more ragged tails from being in overcrowded pens where they get nipped by other fish.

It’s in season.

Like strawberries and asparagus, wild salmon has a specific season, and anything outside of that period is comparable to a winter tomato. Salmon typically runs from mid-May to September, so anything outside that range is probably farmed.

It’s identified by name.

When ordering salmon at a restaurant, you can often tell it’s wild just by reading the menu. “Wild-caught fish are a premium offering, so if ‘wild’ isn’t listed in the description, 9 times out of 10 it’s farmed,” says Miller. You can also request specific, trusted brands like Copper River Salmon by name. In fact, Pike Place Fish Company offers a sign-up list to notify customers when Copper River salmon is available because demand is so high.

The price is right.