Dolly Varden
(Salvelinus malma)
Uses
Dolly Varden are a popular sport and subsistence fish throughout their range. People in northwestern Alaska are heavily dependent on harvests of sea-run Dolly Varden. The flesh is light pink and makes a delicious meal either pan fried or on the Bar-B-Q.
Historically, Dolly Varden were commonly harvested (up to 190,000 pounds some years) as by-catch in the commercial salmon harvest and sold fresh, frozen, canned and pickled. In recent years however, this incidental harvest has dropped dramatically.