Press

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Mountain Xpress-- “Asheville women create sustainable food businesses”

 Heidi was featured in a wonderful article focused on western North Carolina females running sustainable businesses. While Wild Salmon Co. is certainly a partner-run venture; Heidi was certainly raised on a boat and began as a deckhand at the young age of 15.

“There are approximately 1,600 boats that fish in Bristol Bay every year, and I’d guess that less than 10 percent are [operated by] women,” Dunlap says. “But there are substantially more women fishing than there were 10 years ago.” 

Citizen Times

Citizen Times: “How to Cook Fish: It’s Not as Hard as you Think”

"We know that fish is good for us so why don’t we eat more of it,” Asheville Citizen Times writer Debby Maugans writes. “Not everyone knows how to purchase and cook fresh fish filets,” they go on, “but most take less time to cook than a boneless piece of chicken."

It’s true. Here Heidi breaks down the easy and scrumptious ways to prepare your fish and includes her go-to recipe for pan-fried king salmon.

WRAL

WRAL: “From Alaska to Asheville, Wild Salmon Co. Catches On”

We were honored to be featured on WRAL’s Tarheel Traveler. They beautifully captured Wild Salmon Company’s story, touching on Heidi’s youth on a boat with her brother and father in Alaska, her and Steve’s experience over the years and how harsh the weather and conditions can be as well as how grateful they are to share wild caught salmon with their community and beyond."

“I actually grew up fishing with my father in Ketchikan, Alaska. You get to unplug from the world. When fish hit the net you can see them splash. We still jump for joy and yell out hit.”

huffpost

Huffington Post: “Farm To Fork Across America: Wild Alaskan Salmon Running for Their Lives

Early in our national history, an annual ritual of sharing a great meal with strangers and family took hold. Its endurance is a testament to the power of how a meal unifies those around the dinner table, how a meal can bridge a cultural, political, demographic and socio-economic divide... establishing connectivity.

With this in mind, I can’t help but ask how we can, as a nation, bridge the divide in the lack of quality in our food supply. Some answers were to be found in the recent Chefs Collaborative Summit in historic Charleston, South Carolina. It’s the gathering of 300 of the best chefs and sustainable food producers in the nation, two dozen interviews presented an exciting range of ideas and a common commitment to change.

Asheville Citizen Times

Asheville Citizen Times - "Alaskaville Salmon"

"I have never run across such beautifully packaged sockeye – deep red fillets nestled in pairs, expertly sealed and ready for the table."

In contrast, farmed raised salmon, with its artificially colored flesh and unnatural marbling, is a decoy for the gastronomic experience salmon was intended to be. Wild salmon has the benefit of tasting wild: firm fleshed from a life lived with vigor, deeply hued and kissed by the cold, briny water it was pulled from.

WNC Magazine

WNC Magazine – "Dinner Party"

Who you invite to the table is just as important as the culinary creations that grace it. Here we've chosen fascinating folks in the spheres of food, drinks, and entertaining to break bread with...

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Stevo in The Deadliest Catch

Several years ago, "Stevo” was a deckhand in the dead of winter on the Bering Sea on a boat filmed that season by Discovery Channel for the popular TV series ‘Deadliest Catch’, which gives the world a glimpse aboard life at sea. As a professional deckhand, Stevo has experienced nearly every type of commercial fishing in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. This filmed season shares that and more, with Stevo saving the life of a man that unexpectedly fell overboard. 

Watch the clip of Stevo's quick rescue via Youtube!

Girl in Apron

Girl in an Apron – "Wild Alaska Salmon"

For a true salmon lover, this is pretty much as good as it gets. Last night, fillets were simply seared and served over freshly harvested mesculn topped with avocado, sesame oil and tamari. Honestly, meals like this do not get much better. I could taste the vigor unique only to wild flesh swaddled in the sweetness only the ocean can deliver. A sincere thanks to Heidi and Steve for their hard work and integrity.

The Verve

The Verve – "More Fish in the Bering Sea"

There’s a lot of wear and tear on the boat, even though it’s a short season, Dunlap says. That’s because, for three months, the couple does nothing but fish.

"It’s total extremes," Dunlap says. "Sometimes I’m so tired and so cold, I think — Why am I doing this? And then, when it’s dark and the water is glassy calm and the moon is rising from the horizon and the world is completely still, I think, wow—this is the most beautiful place in the world, and I can’t believe I get paid to do this."

WNC Magazine

WNC Magazine – "A Maiden’s Voyage"

In Alaska’s Bristol Bay, brutish winds rule the summer salmon fishing season. The sun sets after midnight and rises around 5 a.m. Tides are legendary here- some of the highest in the world. And potentially deadly sandbars crop up as often as storm clouds. But describing these violent conditions, Heidi Dunlap still registers a mild smile.

"The seas go from choppy to lumpy to big, nasty, and unforgiving in a flash."

Patagonia

Patagonia - "Sockeye and Cyanide"

Bristol Bay is not an untrammeled wilderness, untouched by the ravaging hands of industrial man. But it is a prime example of a sustainable fishery where we as participants perpetuate a delicate, visceral connection with ecological process. A place where we play a supporting role in a seasonal wonder and not the starring role. That is left to the salmon. Any mine, but especially a colossus like the Pebble, will have an adverse effect on the salmon. I am not fortune telling; I am reading the past.

Wrangell Sentinel

Wrangell Sentinel – "Trip Home"

Bill and Karen arrived home last Thursday aboard their 36- ft sailing vessel after voyaging to Hawaii from Wrangell, AK. "As we sit here securely docked in Wrangell harbor it is difficult to reflect clearly upon our journey a month ago. The big seas, the leaky cupboards, the hole in the window that soaked everything, the small electrical fire seems so small and unimportant now."