Atlantic Farmed Salmon: export from Canada to ASEAN

Farmed Atlantic salmon is bought on trim specification and format, and the vocabulary is standardised enough that a precise order is possible, which means an imprecise one is nobody's fault but the buyer's. Head-on gutted, head-off gutted, and the trim letters for fillets each describe a defined product.

The first decision is fresh or frozen. Fresh salmon into Asia is an airfreight product with a shelf-life clock, priced accordingly and generally destined for sashimi-grade and premium foodservice use. Frozen opens the sea route and a broader market.

Canadian production runs on both coasts, with Atlantic salmon farmed in the Maritimes and in British Columbia. Year-round harvest means supply is steadier than for wild species, which is precisely why buyers running continuous programmes choose farmed.

Specify size band, trim, fresh or frozen, and whether the end use is raw consumption: that last answer changes the handling requirements through the entire chain and should be stated rather than assumed.