Our Process
What’s the Secret to our Legendary Salmon?
Secret Island is 100% vertically integrated from ocean to plate and we are completely transparent with our process. Our salmon is caught, processed, and flash-frozen at peak freshness, all within hours of harvest.
While fishing boats can stay out for days or weeks at a time, Secret Island’s advanced technology and years of experience enable us to lock in pure freshness of Patagonia and preserve the natural flavor of the salmon for everyone to enjoy.
Step 1: Freshwater
We work hard to maintain the standards of Best Aquaculture Practices at every stage of our supply chain – and it all starts here!
Our dedicated team of aquaculture experts carefully raise Atlantic and Pacific Coho salmon during the early stages of development at our hatcheries and freshwater centers using state-of-the-art equipment and technology. These centers are located on land and in pristine freshwater lakes, ensuring a process that is environmentally responsible and sustainable over time.
The salmon go from the ova to the fingerling stage, and then to the smolt stage, in about 10 months. Within this period our team of experts ensure that they have the best-quality food as well as ideal light and oxygenation conditions to establish the well-being of the fish until they are ready to be transferred to our Ocean centers.
Step 2: Ocean
Our parent company, Salmones Austral, maintains over 20 individual ocean sites where our legendary Atlantic and Pacific Coho salmon feed, grow and mature – following a natural migration and life cycle process. Each ocean site is chosen for its access to deep open water with good tidal flow, temperature regulation and natural protection from the elements – the end result is an ideal environment for the health of the fish.
The majority of these ocean sites are located around the island of Chiloé in the Los Lagos region of Chilean Patagonia. We maintain several sites further south towards the terminus of the South American continent in the Aysén and Magallanes regions as well.
The salmon eat a proprietary feed that contains a perfected balance of ingredients that salmon need for essential health. The fish are fed a small amount in continuously timed intervals in order to reduce stress – this allows them to swim freely and not have to overly compete for food sources. They say you are what you eat and we believe the premium quality and legendary flavor of our salmon speaks for itself!
Step 3: Harvest
Salmones Austral maintains two processing facilities – both are located in Chilean Patagonia. The first is at the northern end of the Gulf of Ancud near the town of Chamiza and the second is at the southern tip of Chiloé Island near Quellón.
Our processing facilities are state-of-the-art, HACCP certified, marvels of engineering – and our team of aquaculture experts manage the logistics of the facilities with industry leading precision and attention to detail.
Both facilities are capable of taking live, whole salmon and processing them into fully packaged fresh or individually quick frozen fillets or portions within hours of the fish being harvested from the ocean. This level of efficiency allows us to guarantee the legendary quality of our salmon products.
Step 4: Flash-Freezing
Flash frozen is a term used to described the Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) process. Flash-freezing salmon at peak freshness within hours of harvest from the ocean produces the highest quality product in the world.
We start with fresh salmon that has been processed into portions in one of our processing facilities. The salmon is then placed into the IQF tunnel – which is a super powered deep freezer. Temperatures inside the tunnel average -80 F and are capable of instantly freezing a fresh portion within minutes.
The salmon is instantly flash-frozen in the tunnel – locking in legendary quality, freshness and flavor without any degradation or damage to the actual flesh of the fish – locking in legendary freshness.
Step 5: Packaging
Secret Island packages all of our salmon products on-site immediately after processing. We vacuum seal individual portions to lock in our legendary quality and protect the product from damage during transportation and last mile delivery.
We take great care to source consumer packaging that is environmentally friendly and use curbside recyclable, compostable and post-consumer made materials.
Step 6: Delivery
Secret Island fulfills orders from 3 distribution centers across the United States allowing us a low cost, efficient and quick delivery to your home via FedEx Ground service. Every order is carefully packed by hand by our fulfillment team and is shipped with dry-ice to ensure the quality of the product all the way to your door.
