PCC Community Markets Ends Sale of Pacific Northwest Chinook Salmon

(September 10, 2018) – Seattle-based PCC Community Markets (PCC), the nation’s largest community-owned food market, announced it has stopped selling all chinook (king) salmon products — fresh, frozen and smoked — caught in the waters of Washington, Oregon or British Columbia. PCC is responding to the needs of the critically endangered Salish Sea southern resident killer whales (SRKW) that feed predominantly on area king salmon during the summer.

SRKWs have historically thrived on chinook from the Columbia River, but with the salmon runs at just 10 percent of their original population, the orcas are relying more on salmon from the Fraser River in British Columbia for sustenance. Chinook runs on the Fraser, as well as the Columbia and Sacramento River in northern California, have declined. In sum: SRKWs lack the food they need to survive.

“Last month, the heartbreaking ordeal of the mother orca, Tahlequah, and her baby touched many of our members and staff,” said Brenna Davis, VP of Social and Environmental Responsibility. “In the midst of it, the PCC leadership team began discussing how and if we could make an impact on this issue. By committing to no longer sell Pacific Northwest chinook salmon, we realize that we will not solve the complex set of issues facing our resident orcas. We are simply doing our part as a co-op to ensure, as we have for decades, that our supply chain protects our region’s vital ecosystems.”

Dedicated to protecting local food systems, PCC has long put into place comprehensive efforts to protect the Salish Sea including:

• Partnerships with Salmon-Safe certified farms, like Wilcox Family Farms. Salmon Safe is a nonprofit devoted to restoring agricultural and urban watersheds so salmon can spawn and thrive;
• Donating proceeds of sales of Chinook Wines to “Long Live the Kings,” a local non-profit organization that works to protect chinook salmon;
• Financial support to organizations working to protect marine ecosystems, such as the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and Stewardship Partners’ Salmon-Safe certification; and
• Other efforts including advancing the organic supply chain to keep pesticides and other toxins out of streams, and advocating an end to net-pen fish farms, especially for non-native Atlantic salmon.

In place of Pacific Northwest chinook, PCC will sell Alaskan chinook, which is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. PCC also will continue to support local fishers by selling other species of Pacific Northwest salmon. To learn more, please visit: https://www.pccmarkets.com/statements/pcc-ends-the-sale-of-pacific-northwest-chinook-salmon/

About PCC Community Markets Founded in Seattle in 1953, PCC Community Markets (PCC) is the nation’s largest community-owned food market with an unmatched enthusiasm for making food from scratch. Celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2018, PCC is a haven for those who share a dedication to fresh, organic seasonal food that is sustainably sourced from local producers, farmers, ranchers and fishers. With an active membership of more than 60,000 households, PCC operates 11 stores in the Puget Sound area, including the cities of Bothell, Burien, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kirkland, Redmond and Seattle. Seattle stores are in the neighborhoods of Columbia City, Fremont, Green Lake, View Ridge and West Seattle, which will reopen in 2019. The co-op also plans to open new stores in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in 2019 and Bellevue, Madison Valley and Downtown Seattle in 2020.

In 2017, PCC returned 57 percent of its profit to members and contributed an additional 11 percent to the communities it serves, including schools and nonprofits around the Puget Sound area, such as the PCC Farmland Trust and FareStart.