Everything You Need to Know About the Wild Alaskan Company Subscription

In my attempts to continue to live deliciously, I’ve recommitted to my favorite New Year’s resolution: to learn how to cook meat and cook it well. Much like I eat all my favorite parts of a meal and leave something like the Brussels sprouts for last (sorry, Brussels sprouts!), I noticed I was procrastinating on the seafood-cooking chapter of my journey. Seafood had long stumped me.

Perhaps it was confusion about the flavor cues or just pure laziness — likely both. One of my closest friends is also an actual fishmonger, so it’s almost too easy to stay spoiled and let her cook.

Nights of ground beef and chicken were getting kind of capital-B Boring, though, which made for a perfect opportunity to get my seafood groove back. So I dove in, nearly literally, by reviewing and cooking through one of Wild Alaskan Company’s seafood subscription boxes. Here’s how it shook out.

As the name suggests, Wild Alaskan Company sells wild-caught Alaskan and Pacific Northwestern seafood. After 15 years working in internet start-ups, founder Arron Kallenberg returned to his roots to start Wild Alaskan Company in 2017. A third-generation Alaskan commercial fisherman, Kallenberg noticed that the industrial food system was structured in a way that not only downgraded the quality of fish available to Americans, but also was environmentally unsustainable. 

What’s the Alaskan difference, you might be wondering? Well, as all Atlantic salmon is farmed, this means the fish you’re often eating has never been in an ocean or river. Fish farming is illegal in Alaska, so seeing “Alaskan” on a product like salmon is often a good sign you’re getting a solid bang for your buck; those salmon are eating their natural diet of krill and plankton, while Atlantic is often fed fortified corn- and soy-based feed. This lends itself to a richer, more robust fish across the board (spoiler: You really can taste and see the difference).

In fact, all the seafood sold by Wild Alaskan Company is wild, sustainably sourced, and responsibly harvested, as Alaska has some of the strictest guidelines in the nation in regards to allowable harvest levels, gear restriction, and bycatch avoidance. Wild Alaskan Company also works only with fisheries that are traceable and use ethical business practices, like providing fair wages and safe working conditions. It all sounds pretty good, right? Right. So you might be wondering: How do I order and how much does it cost? 

First, head on over to Wild Alaskan Company’s website and choose your plan. Then you can choose between three different pre-selected options — Wild Combo Box, Wild White Fish Box, and Wild Salmon Box — or build a custom box. While the exact contents can change week-to-week based on availability, here’s what you can expect in each of the seafood boxes year-round.

• Wild Combo Box: A variety of coho salmon, Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, sockeye salmon, and Pacific rockfish
• Wild White Fish Box: A variety of Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, and Pacific rockfish
• Wild Salmon Box: A variety of coho salmon and sockeye salmon
  

These three seafood boxes are available in two sizes and price points: a 12-pack of 6-ounce portions (which is geared towards couples or those cooking solo) and costs $145 per box, and a 24-pack of 6-ounce portions (which is more for families) and costs $267 per box. Shipping is also included in the price, which is available everywhere in the U.S., including Hawaii and Alaska (naturally). 

As for the Custom Box, you can choose between a variety of types and cuts of seafood, including everything listed in the Wild Combo Box plus sablefish, wild Alaska pollock quick cuts, cold smoked sockeye, and coho and sockeye captain cuts. Similar to the 12-pack box size, there’s a minimum order of 6 two-portion packs, but you get to mix and match the options (which range between $13.99 and $59.99 per pack) to suit your budget and taste. For instance, if you split your order with the more affordable options (like the $13.99 rockfish fillets and pre-cubed wild Alaskan pollock), your order of 12 six-ounce portions would cost you $95.94.

From there, you can tack on some additional items, like cold smoked sockeye salmon, sablefish, or pre-cubed wild Alaskan pollock, if you wish. You can also periodically add on limited-time offerings, like snap-and-eat Dungeness crab, Weathervane scallops, and hot smoked sockeye.

You can schedule boxes to come once a month, every month-and-a-half, or every two months, or even up to six months (just hop into the handy chat function on the site and you can make this change). There’s no contract either, meaning you can skip boxes or cancel easily through the Wild Alaskan Company website as well. 

In my experience, the quality and availability of seafood at the grocery store can often be super hit or miss — some days the salmon at my local retailer can be picked over or lacking in terms of variety. The selection that came in my Wild Alaskan Company box was not only consistently great in quality (I mean, look at how beautiful that coho salmon is! I need nail polish that color), but it also tasted incredible.

In my box, I received the following, which was roughly $250: 

• Wild Combo Box: A mix of Pacific rockfish, Pacific halibut, Pacific cod, coho salmon, sockeye salmon; 12 (6-ounce) portions
• Cold Smoked Salmon: 1 (8-ounce) pack
• Snap-and-Eat Dungeness Crab: 1 (32-ounce) pack
• Weathervane Scallops: 1 (20-ounce) pack
• Hot Smoked Salmon: 1 (8-ounce) pack

First off, I love that each fillet is individually packaged and flash frozen so I don’t have to deal with opening, resealing, and often wasting the larger packages of fillets I see at the grocery store. It’s just me over here, and cutting down on that food waste is very appealing to me, so major points on that front.

As for taste, the individual fillets were illuminatingly good, in that I didn’t realize that the fish I cook at home could taste that good. These taste like happy wild fish, basically restaurant-quality. The salmon was velvety tender, the scallops were lobster-level rich, and the rockfish crisped up beautifully and had me daydreaming of using my other fillet for tacos ASAP. 

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my meat-cooking journey, quality really can make up for a lack of cooking expertise. The Wild Alaskan Company’s seafood made me look like a pro, inspired me to keep on experimenting, and maybe even convinced me to get back into hosting dinner parties again. All in all, I ended up making a buttery seared scallop Alfredo pasta with buttery seared scallops, rockfish seasoned simply with Skordo Mediterranean fish seasoning, and baked coho salmon marinated in Bachan’s Original Japanese barbecue sauce. I didn’t have to do anything too fancy across the board, but it certainly tasted like I did.

The only thing I need a bit more time with? Wild Alaskan Company’s cold and hot smoked salmon. It was a bit drier in texture, yet fattier in flavor than I am used to. We can’t all be perfect! But we can try. 

Admittedly, the prices are a bit on the steeper side, leaving Wild Alaskan solidly on the $$ to $$$ side of the pricing scale, but not much different from comparable websites. For instance, one 20-ounce bag of Weathervane scallops will run you $55 via Wild Alaskan Company, which is comparable to  Sizzlefish ($54.95) and Premier Catch ($44.95), although the other sites have different shipping minimums. That being said, I think Wild Alaskan is a great option for couples and families who want to know exactly where their seafood comes from, and/or want to really upgrade their weeknight seafood dinner routine. 

I could definitely see myself ordering a Wild Alaskan Company box every six months or so to keep my freezer stocked — especially for those nights I need something easy yet impressive for a last-minute special-occasion dinner. My current box will easily last me until next winter, and the amount of beautiful salmon I have on hand makes me feel like a very lucky Alaskan bear. Goals!  

Buy: Wild Alaskan Company Wild-Caught Seafood Boxes, starting at $145 per box 

Have you tried Wild Alaskan Company? Tell us about it in the comments below.