How Fresh and Delicious Alaska Shellfish Are Harvested

Where does all the delicious, fresh Alaskan seafood in your local market come from? The icy cold waters of Alaska of course! Caught fresh and wild, many people wonder, however, exactly how Alaska is able to harvest so much seafood of such amazing quality each year. It is, by and large, due to its excellent sustainability measures and a wide variety of shellfish harvesting methods. The methods used often depend a great deal on the variety of shellfish, and there are many in Alaska. For starters, try Alaska King Crab, Alaska Dungeness Crab, Alaska Snow Crab, Alaska Scallops, Alaska Shrimp, Alaska Mussels, Alaska Clams, Alaska Oysters, Geoducks, Sea Urchins, and Sea Cucumbers.

Alaska crab like Dungeness, King and Snow crabs are harvested with baited steel traps or pots, and the actual harvesting is intense labor. Off all the shellfish harvesting methods this is hands down the most dangerous. Those doing the harvesting must rely on instinct and experience to know when it is time to haul up the traps, and then return them once more to the bottom of the ocean.

Alaska scallops are slightly easier to get one's hands on, and are hand-shucked and frozen right away meaning that no matter when they travel to after they retain that fresh, just caught flavor and top texture. Alaska shrimp are harvested with bottom trawls and beam trawls, and come in several varieties like Spot shrimp, Sidestripe shrimp, Coonstripe shrimp, and Humpy shrimp. Some, like Coonstripe shrimp are actually harvested with pots, and all varieties can be found fresh, frozen or even live in seafood markets around the country.

Of all the shellfish harvesting methods used in Alaska, the harvesting of shellfish like Geoducks, Sea Cucumbers and Sea Urchins may be the most up close and personal. These delicacies must be harvested by individuals, often armed with scuba gear! Last but not least, Alaska clams such as Littleneck and Razor clams are dug from the sand, a process which must be done by hand! It's no wonder that Alaska seafood tastes so good with all the great effort and care that goes into harvesting it. Often plucked right from the icy waters of Alaska by human hands and delivered fresh to you wherever you may be, there's no seafood in the world that can beat the quality, freshness, texture and flavor of Alaska seafood.