Members Sample Great Tasting Seafood, Learn About Food’s Journey From Alaska to Bloomsburg at March Business After Hours at Wild For Salmon

After a 24-hour delay due to the early-spring nor’easter that hit the area on Wednesday, the Columbia Montour Chamber had its March Business After Hours on Thursday, March 22 at Wild For Salmon, which welcomed a large crowd of Chamber members and guests to its retail store and warehouse on Rt. 11 between Bloomsburg and Danville for a late afternoon of great tasting food and drink, networking and learning about the sometimes complicated but never dull business of commercial fishing and seafood.

Attendees were treated to a tasty selection of dishes made up by Chef Josh, Wild For Salmon’s in-house chef, including albacore tuna poke, halibut cheek ceviche, sweet and savory sole soup, salmon nicoise pasta salad and roasted shrimp salad. There were also a couple of beer selections from fellow Chamber member Turkey Hill Brewing, and attendees had an opportunity to spin the “wheel of opportunity” for a chance to win a variety of prizes. Tours of the warehouse were given, and members also had an opportunity to learn about what goes into making sure the freshest fish make it directly from Bristol Bay in Alaska to your plate here in Columbia and Montour counties and other Wild For Salmon customers throughout the country. There is an approximate six-week fishing season for salmon in Bristol Bay each June and July, and after Wild For Salmon’s owners and staff catch the fish each year, the fish are processed, preserved, packed and shipped to a refrigerated warehouse in Seattle, where there are a large number of seafood warehouses to support the large fishing industry in and around the Pacific. Here, they are stored until they are needed to ship to the warehouse here in Bloomsburg to fulfill customer orders. There is limited cooler space in the warehouse here, so inventory must be carefully managed based on demand and projected sales, and there is very little room for error since fish can easily spoil. Weather events are also something that must be taken into consideration when the shipping schedule is put together, as dry ice only preserves the fish for 48 hours, and any shipping delays due to weather will result in spoilage.

Business After Hours provide regular opportunities to build business relationships while learning about the services offered by other Chamber members. The next Business After Hours will be held at the Bloomsburg Municipal Airport, which is owned and run by the Town of Bloomsburg and located at 301 Airport Rd. Bloomsburg, on Wednesday, April 18, from 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Please note this location change from the previously scheduled location of Ken Pollock Ford Lincoln, which instead will host a public grand reopening of its newly-remodeled showroom on Saturday, April 21 at 1 p.m. The Chamber will be on hand to cut the ribbon at the beginning of the event.