Longtime Northwest fisherman Randy Hartnell founded Vital Choice Seafood early in 2002, after sailing Alaskan waters for more than 20 years in search of salmon, herring, and other regional species. As he says of those memorable decades, "Every season on the water was a satisfying immersion in nature accompanied by long days, hard work, close friends, plentiful salmon and rich rewards for the labor of harvesting them."

The advent of farmed salmon made salmon fishing a financially precarious pursuit, and led Randy to reinvent himself as a seafood-savvy retailer dedicated to helping people enjoy lives of health and sustainability.

Thanks to his expertise, Vital Choice customers are assured of the best, most carefully handled fish, at the best possible prices. Less than one percent of all Alaskan salmon meet strict Vital Choice standards of quality and freshness.

The same goes for all of the company's sustainably harvested seafood. Vital Choice features premium quality flash-frozen Alaskan Salmon, Alaskan Sablefish, Alaskan Halibut, Alaskan King Crab, Alaskan Scallops, and troll-caught, minimal-mercury North Pacific Albacore Tuna.

Customers also enjoy the best hot-smoked and cold-smoked Sockeye Salmon and canned fish, including premium quality, minimally cooked Sockeye, Sardines, and low-weight, Albacore Tuna.

The online Vital Choice store also features rare, unrefined omega-3-rich Sockeye Salmon Oil supplements and uncommon seafood sensations like Salmon Sausage, Salmon Caviar (ikura), Tataki (seared salmon sushi), Ventresca Tuna, and Canned Smoked Salmon … even Salmon Jerky Treats for our four-legged friends.

In response to customer requests, Vital Choice now offers organically grown foods of exceptional nutritional and culinary quality: Frozen Organic Berries, Dried Organic Fruits, Organic Nuts, Organic Tea, Organic Extra Dark Chocolate, Organic Herbs & Spices, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Organic Macadamia Nut Oil.

Customers enjoy several built-in advantages when they choose seafood from Vital Choice:

• Safety Assurance: By nature, Vital Choice wild Alaskan Salmon, Alaskan Sablefish, Alaskan Scallops, Portuguese Sardines, and low-weight, low-mercury Pacific Albacore Tuna and Alaskan Halibut are unusually low in contaminants of concern. And each species is tested periodically to ensure safety.

• Superior Flavor: Vital Choice seafood is guaranteed to be the very best quality available.

• Ample Omega-3s: All Vital Choice fish offer omega-3s and vitamin D, with wild Alaskan Salmon, Alaskan Sablefish, Portuguese Sardines, and Pacific Albacore Tuna being especially rich in both preventive-health powerhouses.

• Sustainability: All of our fish and shellfish come from well-managed, sustainable fisheries, according to the State of Alaska, the Marine Stewardship Council, and independent environmental organizations, which advise consumers to AVOID farmed salmon.

A Message from Founder/President Randy Hartnell

Alaskan salmon represent an abundant, renewable resource and are considered one of the finest natural foods left on earth, but the advent of nutritionally inferior factory-farmed salmon devastated a healthy, productive and cherished way of life for thousands of fishermen.

I came to realize that the best hope was in educating consumers about the profound nutritional, culinary, and environmental advantages of wild salmon. In 2000, after returning from Alaska with empty pockets, I was invited to join a proactive fisherman friend on trips he was making to grocery stores around the country. Over the following months, in places like Nashville, Boulder and Kalamazoo we served Alaskan sockeye salmon to hundreds of people and told our story to any who would listen.

We told them of the far-reaching consequences of their choice in salmon-to their own well being, to the environment, to the wild salmon resource and to the dying industry that has been its strongest political advocate. We were pleased to find an extremely receptive audience. It was during this time that Vital Choice Seafood was conceived.

Because wild salmon is such a fundamentally good product, the Vital Choice formula is simple: bring benefit to both our customers and producers by procuring the very best fish and delivering them in prime condition at a fair price.

As a result of my many years in the Alaskan salmon industry and the many close relationships I enjoy with fishers and processors, I know when, where, how and from whom to procure the best fish. I'm confident you will find no purveyor more passionate about his product or more committed to your satisfaction.

I hope you will come to view Vital Choice as your reliable connection to one of the healthiest naturally organic foods remaining on earth. When you choose a sustainably harvested fillet of wild salmon, sablefish, albacore tuna, or halibut you are choosing much more than just a fine meal. You are promoting your health, the health of coastal fishing communities, the environment and the precious wild salmon it sustains. In short, you really are making a Vital Choice."