Wild Alaska Salmon & Seafood
My name is Tony Wood, fisherman and owner of Wild Alaska Salmon & Seafood. I have spent 25+ years in Alaska as a sport fishing guide, pilot and commercial fisherman. Over those years, I have found a real need for high quality, wild-caught Alaskan Salmon at a reasonable price to be made available in the lower 48 states. My mission from the beginning of Wild Alaska Salmon & Seafood was to eliminate the middle-man and large corporation processors and be able to sell a product where I can guarantee the highest quality because I am the harvester, processor and salesman. As I always say, “You buy your produce from the farmer. Why not buy your fish from the fisherman?”
During the summer fishing season in Alaska, I am the Captain of my boat, the Oly, and my wife Heather is processing the catch to be directly distributed throughout the year from us to our farmers’ market customer, wholesalers and individual online customers. Wild Alaska Salmon & Seafood does not sell to any corporate chains. To ensure the highest quality possible, every fish that I catch is iced and bled on board my boat, delivered to shore twice a day after every tide, and immediately processed and blast-frozen at my facility. There are over 2000 fisherman in my region of Alaska and I am the only one that is completely independent. I handle and manage every aspect of the process, from being caught to being bought. All of Alaska’s fisheries are certified sustainable and management of them is even included in the state constitution. After the fishing season ends, my fish and my family relocate to Southern Illinois where we spend our winters direct marketing our salmon to independent retailers, including co-op grocery stores and restaurants as well as farmer’s markets. We utilize email marketing and social media to communicate to our very loyal existing customer base to advertise and promote the markets where our products are sold.
In February of 2014, my wife and I had our first born son, Max. Due to this addition to our family, we hired our first full-time employee in November. Josh comes from Bloomingfoods Market & Deli in Bloomington, IN where he has spent the last 10 years as the meat/seafood manager. As a customer of ours, Josh was able to see first-hand the impact that our products made to his department. Josh has been involved with every aspect of our business including fishing seasons with us in Alaska and as a processor/manager. He now handles all of the day-to-day operations as well as our IN farmers’ market guru! All in all, he was the perfect fit for our company.