Originally Posted by
slawecki
what's a RED? i have never before seen CRS referred as a red. all types seem to be bright red.
i think the only other one that we see is a coho. the one we cannot afford is a king, and there is a sockeye.
costco in dc area does not have them yet. harris teeter does.
i once ordered a whole king from a wholesaler. it was well over 2' long, and weighed some 30 lbs, gutted and with the head off.
There are two species caught around the same time in the Copper River fishery, King (aka Chinook) and Red (aka Sockeye) salmon. They are different fish, with different levels of fat content. There are usually many more Reds caught than Kings in the Copper River fishery.
The price paid to fishermen for Reds is less than for Kings - this year around $4 per lb. for Reds vs. $6.50 for Kings. These differences usually filter through to the retail level in the form of 30% - 50% markup for Kings over Reds. If the merchant can sell you "Copper River Salmon" without telling you which species, you can pretty well assume it's Red salmon priced like it was King; why wouldn't they? Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference once the fish is cooked.
IIRC Costco usually says which it is; other fish retailers (and many restaurants) don't.