Copper River salmon season kicked off on May 22 in Alaska and typically peaks during June and July. For those who love salmon, the wild species of fish (including Sockeye, Coho and more rarely King salmon) that make the 300-mile journey up the Copper River are a real treat. Not only are they packed full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, but their flavor profile is impeccably delicious.

It’s among the favorite times of year for Adra and Juro Kusnir, who’ve dedicated themselves to bringing fresh, high-quality frozen salmon to Wisconsin from the Copper River fishing region with their business, Alaska Fresh Seafood.

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With a small storefront and packaging facility in Butler, Wisconsin and a warehouse in Waukesha, the husband and wife team sells Copper River Salmon, Alaskan White Fish (Halibut and Black Cod/Sablefish), Keta Salmon Ikura Red Caviar, salmon burgers, smoked salmon, mixed seafood boxes and a few additional products. 

In fact, if you’re looking for a last-minute gift for your seafood-loving dad for Father's Day, a box of Alaska Fresh fish might be just the thing. *winkwink

Why is Alaska Fresh special?

“Our mission is to bring sustainable, wild seafood that’s sourced and processed here in the U.S. to people in Wisconsin,” says Juro, a native of Slovakia who made his connection with Alaskan seafood years ago when he secured a summer job working for Copper River Seafoods in Cordova, Alaska. There he worked his way up through the ranks from cleaning fish to management and becoming highly educated in the area of sustainable Alaskan seafood. 

Juro met his wife Adra, a native of Brookfield who worked as a Director of International Relations for a J1 Visa Sponsor, at an immigration conference in Chicago. The two hit it off and Adra moved with Juro to Alaska where the two were married. For years, they moved back and forth between Wisconsin and Alaska, bringing fresh seafood – including salmon, halibut and black cod/sablefish – home for friends and family, many of whom had never tasted fish of such high quality.

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Ultimately, they decided that more people in Wisconsin deserved to have access to the great seafood to which they had access. So, in 2018, they launched Alaska Fresh as a side hustle. The business grew organically through word of mouth and last March they decided to scale up and take the business full-time.

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“We’ve continued to work with Copper River Seafoods,” says Juro. “We’ve been eating and selling this fish for years and it’s really some of the best you can find.”

Adra and Juro visit Alaska multiple times of year and their relationship with Copper River Seafoods allows them to sell high-quality fish that’s been mindfully harvested by a fleet of independent fishermen on one to two-man boats.

The harvesting process is executed with care. Halibut are line-caught and salmon is caught in gill nets. From there, the fish are bled and chilled on the boat, then transported to shore and processed, flash frozen and shipped directly to Wisconsin by plane or freezer truck.  

Know where your fish is from

When they say it pays to “know where your food comes from,” that’s especially true in the world of seafood.

“Some commercial wild salmon is actually shipped to China, where it can be packaged more cheaply,” says Juro. “And then it gets shipped back to the U.S. That’s not ideal. We feel really strongly about making sure we know exactly how our fish has been processed.”

“This isn’t industrial fishing and processing,” says Adra. “The fishermen pull in all the fish by hand. And even the processing incorporates a great deal of human touch. It’s not just machines [which can bruise the fish]. Knowing the people who work there also makes a difference.”

And, while many people would consider fresh-never-frozen to be best, that’s not the case in the Midwest. Fish is very perishable and it spoils much faster than other proteins (including red meat and poultry). After harvest, fish loses its flavor, nutrients and quality quickly; in fact, fish will go bad in two weeks or less.

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“When you purchase fish that’s ‘fresh’ and never frozen, that fish is a minimum of seven to ten days old, due to the time it takes to process and ship,” says Juro. “But fish that’s frozen in Alaska is frozen in as few as 24 hours (and a maximum of four days) after harvest. Deep freezing stops the fish from breaking down right then and there, allowing the fish to maintain its flavor and texture.”

Alaska Fresh has also developed relationships with other companies to diversify their offerings. For instance, they sell salmon burgers that are produced by Rushing Waters with their custom recipe and salmon. They also sell jarred smoked salmon produced by an Alaska Native-owned company that uses a preserving process that’s unique to Alaska. Freshly harvested salmon is smoked, hand-packed and pressure canned.  So, it’s shelf stable, rather than refrigerated. The product also supports indigenous food production. 

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Where to get Alaska Fresh

Alaska Fresh Seafood products are available at their storefront located at 4556 N. 126th St. in Butler, Wisconsin. Juro and Adra also sell at eight farmers markets during the summer months and through select retailers, including their newest partner, Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative, which will be carrying Alaska Fresh seafood beginning this week.

Customers can also order online through their website with both home delivery and shipping available (free shipping over $100 to numerous states).