Our Process
Our salmon are caught, processed, and flash-frozen at peak freshness – all within hours of harvest in Chilean Patagonia.
While fishing boats can stay out for days or weeks at a time, Secret Island’s cutting-edge technology centering around the Salmon’s natural life cycle enables us to provide the freshest product possible.
It all starts in the hatchery…
Though our salmon spend plenty of time swimming in pristine Patagonian waters, to truly follow nature’s blueprint, their lives must start in freshwater.
*Salmon are anadromous fish – a classification reserved for species like salmon, trout, whitefish, and more, that are born in freshwater and migrate to saltwater.
Our talented team ensures the healthy development of our fish with our land based Recirculating Aquaculture System. This system purifies the water and allows us to reuse 99% of it for a smaller environmental impact.
Once our salmon have matured (at about 10 months), they’re transferred to our open water pens.
Just keep swimming 🌊
Now the fun begins! Once our salmon are transferred to one of our over 20 individual ocean sites, they can really begin to feed, grow, and mature.
It’s important to us that they follow a natural migration and life cycle process, so each ocean site has access to deep ocean water with good tidal flow, consistent temperatures, and natural protection from the elements.
However, that doesn’t mean they’re on their own – nets protect our fish from the surrounding environment, and the surrounding environment from our fish. Plus, the watchful eye of our team and a scientifically curated feed help keep our fish healthy and parasite free.
FROZEN IN A FLASH & READY TO GO
Once they’ve fully matured, it’s time for flash freezing! “Flash Frozen” is a term used to describe the Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) process. Flash-freezing salmon within hours of harvest from the ocean locks in peak freshness.
To do this, the salmon are placed into what’s called the IQF tunnel – basically a super powered deep freezer. Temperatures inside the tunnel average -80 degrees Fahrenheit, and are capable of instantly freezing a fresh portion within minutes. The benefit of flash freezing, other than locking in legendary freshness, is that no degradation or damage to the actual flesh of the fish occurs.
We’re BAP Certified!
Our 4-Star BAP Certification – the highest there is! – is a proudly earned testament to our aquaculture practices.
BAP (Best Aquaculture Practices) is the only third party aquaculture certification program in the world that certifies every step of the production chain.
The Best Aquaculture Practices certification program addresses the four key areas of sustainability—environmental, social, food safety, and animal health & welfare. BAP offers a comprehensive certification that covers the entire aquaculture supply chain including processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills. This ensures that our legendary salmon is ethically and environmentally responsible.
Other Certifications
We donate 1% of annual sales to environmental organizations to certify our support of people and the planet.
We join other leaders of advanced salmon aquaculture to increase our industry’s sustainability.
We support the mission to inspire a healthier America by raising awareness of seafood’s essential nutritional benefits.