Our Key to Better Fish: Meticulous Handling, Proven Sustainability, Total Traceability
Who We Are
My name is Kevin Wilson. I have been a commercial fisherman for over 20 years. Several times a year I say goodbye to my wife, Malerie, and our two young boys to go fishing in Alaska. Whether it is fishing for salmon on our boat the Miss Malerie or black cod on the F/V Dangerous Cape, I love my job. It is a challenging profession but one that I find extremely rewarding.
Frustrated by a broken supply chain that often destroys the wonderful food that I and other fisherman work so hard to catch, I started Cold Current Fish Company to share fish that has been cherished at every step from boat to table.
From Boat to Table-Exceptional Care at Every Step
Bristol Bay, AK- F/V Miss Malerie
As the saying goes in the fish business, “you can’t unf*** a fish”. We subscribe to this mantra on the Miss Malerie and treat every sockeye with care as soon as it comes out of the water. Unlike many of our competitors in Bristol Bay, our fishing fleet chills the fish immediately at the point of harvest. Every gillnetter in the Silver Bay Seafoods fleet, including the Miss Malerie, carries precision temperature probes in the fish holds. As soon as the salmon comes aboard, we bleed and float them in refrigerated seawater for optimal quality. To prevent bruising, we use mats and salmon slides throughout handling. Our goal is simple: deliver the highest quality salmon possible.
Southeast Alaska- F/V Dangerous Cape
In Southeast Alaska, small vessel fishermen—members of the Seafood Producers Co-op—pride themselves on meticulously cleaning and icing their halibut and sablefish as soon as they come aboard. The fleet adheres to the co-op's stringent requirements on fishing trip lengths, ensuring that our fish are the freshest available. Since its founding in 1944, the co-op has become North America's longest operating and most successful fisherman cooperative by consistently processing the best quality catch. We are honored to continue this tradition every time we hand you your box of fish at pick-up.
Trusted Processing Partnerships
As longtime fisherman-owners of Silver Bay Seafoods and proud members of the Seafood Producers Co-op, we’re grateful to work with partners we can genuinely trust. Our longstanding relationship with both organizations gives us complete confidence in their ability to handle our catch with care and precision—preserving the just-caught quality we’re committed to delivering. By partnering with fisherman-owned processors—where profits go directly back to the fishermen—and with fleets that share our quality-driven values, every link in the chain is motivated and financially incentivized to handle the fish with the utmost care. Having worked with many different processors over the years, we believe our current partners offer a fundamentally different experience for small-boat fishermen—one that results in higher-quality products you can truly distinguish from other sources.
Proven Sustainable
The word “sustainable” is so overused by seafood companies that it’s teetering on the edge of becoming meaningless. The best way to ensure true seafood sustainability is to buy directly from fishermen. Many of the men and women that work in Alaska — like me — have children, and we’re deeply committed to preserving the fisheries we rely on so they can continue to feed future generations. Buying from individuals like myself, who are directly involved in the harvest, is the best way to avoid the ignorance and deceptive marketing that often comes from large retailers.
Like most Alaskan fishermen, we understand the importance of science-based research, strict regulations, and strong enforcement in protecting these valuable natural resources. That understanding has created a strong working relationship between the fishing industry and state and federal regulators — one that’s helped make Alaska a global model for sustainable fisheries management.
This is reflected in the number of Alaskan fisheries certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) — the world’s most rigorous and widely recognized third-party certification for wild fisheries. All the salmon, halibut, and sablefish sold by Cold Current Fish Company are MSC certified. These fisheries are also ranked as a “Best Choice” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. While no certification system is perfect, MSC and Seafood Watch offer meaningful guidance and safeguards for consumers trying to cut through the noise and make informed seafood choices.
Total Traceability
At Cold Current Fish Company, we believe that traceability is the key to everything. Without it, there is no way to know how your fish was harvested, how it was treated after it came out of the water, and in many cases, even what species it is. One misrepresentation in the supply chain transforms the product into something it is not. A 2024 study by Seattle Pacific University of Seattle retailers found that 18 percent of salmon sampled was mislabeled.
By sourcing products from fisheries and fisherman-owned processors, we have complete traceability—from boat to table. When you buy seafood from Cold Current Fish Company you know exactly what you are getting. We don’t sell mystery fish. You know the boat, the crew, and the care that went into it. That’s how you get fish that actually tastes like it came from the ocean—not a warehouse.
