When Alaskans fish for salmon, most are hoping to bring home those gorgeous — not to mention delicious — red fillets for the barbecue, freezer, or canning jar. When the fish are cleaned, the long skeins of pink or red eggs often go overboard with everything else.

Not so in the commercial fishing industry, where salmon eggs — or roe — have become big business. Russia’s embargo of American seafood has been a setback to Alaska’s caviar industry, but demand for the product is growing elsewhere.

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CoastAlaska executive director Mollie Kabler samples locally-produced ikura. The consensus of the taste test? "Fishy blueberries." (KCAW photo/Amy Kramer-Johnson)

CoastAlaska executive director Mollie Kabler samples locally-produced ikura. The consensus of the taste test? “Fishy blueberries.” (KCAW photo/Amy Kramer-Johnson)

When people think of caviar they often think of the “black gold” from Caspian Sea sturgeon. A Russian delicacy. But recently “Chum caviar” or Ikura has been in the news because Russia is no longer importing salmon roe from the United States — a result of the ongoing dispute over Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine.

I didn’t realize that Alaskan caviar was in play internationally until I spoke with Steve Reifenstuhl, general manager of the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, NSRRA.

KCAW – I thought Caviar was made from Sturgeon.
Reifenstuhl – It is made from Sturgeon, but there are other kinds of caviar. Sturgeon is probably the most famous but, you know, in the last 20 years roe from chum salmon and from pink salmon has had a huge demand and has grown significantly, particularly in Eastern Europe, not so much in the United States. But, of course, it’s been a delicacy in Japan for decades. But that demand has spread across the world as the world has come to know that product of ikura, chum caviar, and it’s a high in protein, high in fat, it’s a delicacy. I love it myself.

Ikura sounds Japanese, and many may associate it with sushi restaurants, but ikura is a Russian word meaning roe. Chum caviar was brought to Japan in the second decade of the 20th century when Russian caviar makers trained the Japanese to make the delicacy. Now Japan is the number one consumer of Alaskan chum caviar.

But caviar is also made from pink salmon roe as well. Pink caviar, or rozovyy ikura in Russian, is more affordable than chum ikura.

Reifenstuhl – Pink Caviar is also considered a delicacy. It’s just the best of the Salmon is the chum because it’s a larger egg and I think the ‘pop’ that occurs when you turn it in, you know, salt it and turn it into a caviar product. Pink salmon is a smaller egg and for some reason is not quite as desirable so doesn’t have the price that chum salmon caviar has.

Pink caviar does not have the “pop in the mouth feel” of chum caviar because, according to Seattle Seafoods, a processor of Alaska pink salmon roe, the eggs’ cell structure is weaker than the cell structure in chum salmon eggs. And while the Russians may have developed one way of processing both pink and red ikura, Refenstuhl says that Native Alaskans have been benefitting from the nutritional value of salmon roe for thousands of years.

Reifenstuhl – Indigenous people here in Southeast have been eating roe since they arrived here 10,000 or more years ago because it’s incredibly rich in protein and fat and so it’s a natural food source and been a delicacy for the Tlingit people for years.

Sadly, I’m allergic to seafood products but I brought some roe to the Raven Radio Staff meeting and conducted an impartial taste test with Rachel Waldholtz, Mollie Kabler, Rob Woolsey and Rich Parker. First I opened the package of Chum Caviar so they could get a look.

They’re a lot bigger than I thought they’d be. They’re ah, big and squishy looking. – They’re beautiful. – Looks like bait.

Then came the tasting, my four volunteers each took a spoon and…

Oh, it’s very salty. It’s pretty good, it’s like mushy sushi…
It’s kind of funny, they do roll around in your mouth a little bit…
They are very squishy. That’s okay. I wouldn’t go out of my way…
Kind of like fishy blueberries…

And what about that “Pop in the mouth” that Steve Refenstuhl so enjoys?

Yeah, I had a little bit of a pop feeling…
They pop and kind of release a liquid in your mouth…
Yeah, It’s a cool burst of fishy goodness…
It is, it’s a burst of fishy goo…
I don’t think it’s meant to be eaten straight up, you’ve got to put it on a cracker or something…
Cracker and a little bit of cheese and this would be awesome…

No one knows how long the Russian embargo may last. But just maybe their loss is our gain?