Submitted by chris_hunt on Thu, 2013-07-18 08:00 Conservation Backcountry Trout Magazine Southeast Alaska Vote Up Down +4 + P7160041.JPG The TU Blogger Tour, version 2013, visited a local Alaskan fish processing plant on Tuesday of this week and journalists got a true inside look into how wild Alaskan salmon go from the nets or the lines to the market and, eventually, to your table. Thanks to Tyson Fick of the Alaskan Seafood Marketing Institute, the tour--sponsored by Fishpond, RIO Products and Tenkara USA--visited Alaska Glacier Seafoods, where tour members were walked through the entire process, from how salmon are caught in the ocean to how they're shipped off and delivered to market. Tour-goers saw workers processing chum (keta), silver and sockeye salmon during the hour-long tour, and got the chance to talk to processing employees about their jobs and the importance of salmon to Southeast Alaska's economy. On a good, Alaska Glacier Seafoods can process 150,000 pounds of fish--and the small processing facility kept about 50 employees busy while tour-goers were walked through the process. Later that afternoon, the tour visited a small stream outside of Juneau and watched as big chum salmon migrated upstream. Among the chums were feisty Dolly Vardens, Southeast Alaska's native char. Anglers chased the Dollies with the patented Alaska "bead" fly, which resembled salmon eggs, the preferred food source for trout and char here in the Tongass National Forest. TU is working to ensure the Tongass remains the salmon factory it is by protecting vital habitat in perpetuity.