Wild-Caught Salmon Hard To Come By For NW Restaurants

[hatrack]

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Salmon, especially sockeye, has become a source of worry for Posteraro, who is owner as well as executive chef of Cioppino's. In 22 years in Canada -- the past 10 in Vancouver -- he hasn't seen it this bad. He doesn't served farmed salmon, and a reliable supply of wild fish is getting harder and harder to find.

Federal fisheries scientists said this week changing water temperatures in the northern Pacific Ocean may be responsible for substantially lower-than-forecast numbers of sockeye salmon entering the Fraser River so far this year. As a result, sockeye is getting harder and harder to find.

The timing couldn't be worse: his establishment has just had a review in the prestigious Wine Spectator magazine, and sockeye is a popular item with the well-heeled international travellers who come to dine.

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He has two suppliers who try to do all they can for him, but he knows they're feeling the same pressure. Although he has ordered 24 fillets, he doubts he will see that many, and knows he may not see any at all. "You get less, or they call and say, 'Sorry, we don't have any, maybe we can get a little steelhead, or maybe we can give you some coho,' but it's been very hard." Jack Waterfield, owner and operator of Lions Gate Fisheries Ltd. in Ladner, knows just how hard it has been. "It's as bad as I've ever seen it, and I've been in the business for 49 years," he says.

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http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=1b491e62-0c11-49fd-bebd-fd3523dc2ee8