Salmon doesn’t run in the south, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of great places to enjoy the fatty favorite (fatty in all those good, omega-3 ways).

Thanks to aquaculture and the miracles of refrigeration, pescetarians now have the advantage of being able to enjoy their favorite filets just about anytime and anywhere, including way down south where the fish don’t swim.

At a recent aquculture conference, I had the opportunity to taste farmed salmon alongside wild caught Alaskan Sockeye. I am a big salmon fan and I have to say I liked both, and I wasn’t alone. Their color was certainly distinct (what gives salmon its perfect pearly-orange color is the cartenoid pigments from consuming the tiny shellfish and krill only accessible in the wild), as well as their flavor profiles, but the crowd was actually 50/50 in terms of a favorite. What does that mean for the salmon enthusiast like myself? Flavorful, high-quality tartare can be had all year round.