A couple of weeks ago we had a discussion on the quality of the flesh of white springs vs. red springs, and I promised I would make some white spring sashimi and report back.
After being about 10 days in my chest freezer at -20, I deemed the sashimi grade cut ready for consumption. And indeed, it was.
The texture was perfect - not too soft, not too hard; the flavour was rich, yet delicate. There was no overwhelming fishy smell at all.
I'm rating it considerably higher than your neighbourhood sushi eatery's atlantic salmon or tuna.
When the fish is just in from the ocean (this was a chrome bullet), there are absolutely no issues with the taste or texture. Don't hesitate to harvest a fresh whitey from the Fraser, Vedder or Harrison.
It is when the fish goes dark (sometimes almost black) that serious degradation of the flesh takes place. That's when it is a much better idea to gently release the fish and to enable it to finish its spawning business.
Now if the rivers would only stop blowing out on weekends so that some of us weekend warriors can get into some coho action.
Next installment: fresh chum sashimi - wait for it.