Wild Alaskan Company

Wild Alaskan Company founder Arron Kallenberg grew up on his family’s commercial fishing boat in Alaska, where sustainable practices were simply how things were done. His grandfather, Robert, even wrote his 1952 Cornell master’s thesis on “A Study of the Red Salmon of Bristol Bay with Particular Reference to Teaching its Conservation.” The fact that this 128-page paper is proudly posted on the company’s website speaks to the family’s long-standing devotion to responsible fishing.

Our Marketplace Editor was skeptical at first. Could a seafood subscription really deliver fish that looked, smelled, and tasted as if it had just left the water? Her first shipment, a Wild Combo box with salmon, halibut, sablefish, and cod, quickly won her over. Each vacuum-sealed fillet was glossy and perfectly portioned, cooked up tender and flavorful, and showed none of the dullness or freezer burn she’d come to expect from the previously defrosted wild-caught fish on display at local grocers. And the convenience of having portioned, quick-to-defrost fish in the freezer proved convenient, a weeknight boon.

Wild Alaskan sources only from well-managed Alaskan fisheries that meet the state’s rigorous, science-based sustainability standards. The company donates to Alaskan food banks, prioritizes ground transportation over air whenever possible, and ships orders in home-compostable insulation with curbside-recyclable boxes. Their fish is also relatively affordable at $31–$35 per pound. At grocers and specialty stores, wild fish from Alaska often costs more — and just as often, doesn’t taste as good. All that said, if you’re able to support sustainable fishing in your own community, we recommend doing that. We can’t help but think the folks at Wild Alaskan would agree.