July 20, 2025 • 36 mins
In this compelling episode of Voice4Chefs, host Michael is joined by new co-host Chef Steven, a seasoned culinary professional with experience in five-star hotels and Michelin-starred kitchens. Together, they welcome Sena Wheeler, a fifth-generation fisherman and co-founder of Sena Sea, to explore the story behind one of the most trusted names in wild Alaska seafood.
🌊 Discover the Journey of Sena Sea
Sena shares how her family’s deep-rooted fishing heritage and passion for sustainable practices led to the creation of Sena Sea, a direct-to-consumer company delivering premium wild-caught Alaska seafood. From the icy waters of the Pacific to your dinner plate, learn about the rigorous quality control, transparent sourcing, and deep family values that drive the company’s mission.
🍽️ What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
· How Sena Sea ensures sustainability and traceability from ocean to table
· The challenges and rewards of running a family fishing business
· Why wild-caught seafood is essential for flavor and health
· Behind-the-scenes stories of catching, processing, and distributing premium fish
· What chefs and home cooks should know about sourcing high-quality seafood
This episode is a must-listen for seafood lovers, chefs, culinary students, and anyone passionate about responsible food sourcing.
👉 Visit www.senasea.com to explore their full product line and learn more.
00:00 Introduction and New Co-Host Announcement
00:20 Meet Chef Steven: Culinary Journey
01:55 Introducing Special Guest: Sena Wheeler
02:47 Sena Sea: The Origin Story
05:03 Generational Fishing Legacy
06:17 Building a Personal Brand
08:30 Customer Connections and Feedback
13:05 Sustainability in Fishing
17:26 Handling Fish on Small Boats
19:50 Innovative Packaging for Sustainability
20:56 Protecting the Fishing Industry and Environment
23:22 Family-Based Seafood Business
24:37 Customer Favorites and Unique Seafood Products
28:21 The Benefits of Omega-3 in Fish
32:08 How to Support Sena Seafoods
33:28 Final Thoughts on Food and Community
Contact Sena:
Email: info@senasea.com
FB: www.facebook.com/senaseafoods
Web: https://senasea.com
IG: @senasea_seafoods
Season2
Welcome Chef Steven Leung as our new cohost.
IG: themindfulwok
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Host Michael Dugan (00:00):
I'm really excited today because
(00:01):
we've already kicked offseason four, but we have a
special surprise for you.
We have a brand new co-host,chef Steven is part of our team
now, and I'm really excitedto introduce you to him, but
I thought it'd be better forhim to introduce himself.
So Chef Steven, take it away.
Cohost Chef Steven (00:22):
Of course.
Thanks so much, Michael.
I'm so excited to be here.
Listen to Michael's.
A few podcasts, and thenI was super inspired
by the conversations.
A little bit about myself isthat I was raised in the Bay
Area in California and then my,my, my career actually started
(00:42):
in Las Vegas from culinaryschool to five star hotels.
Buffet and small restaurants.
You can name it big and small,quick service, fine dining.
And so I worked the careerladder up and very excited
to highlight my career twostar Michellin Restaurant at
(01:05):
Caesars Palace is named GuySavoy, so a world renowned chef.
And then through my careerI learned different aspects
of management and differenttype of recipes and different
type of equipment becausethere's a different.
Volume for different operations.
(01:26):
Recently I left a job at theCosmopolitan of Las Vegas
as the executive sous chef.
And then now I'm doing a lotof recipe consulting, a lot of
community food related events.
Mostly, you know, networkingas well from business
owners to supply ownerslike today's guests.
(01:50):
So I'm very excitedto be here again.
Host Michael (01:52):
Fantastic, Steven.
Thank you.
So we're gonna kick it off.
I'm very excited too because Ilove and obsess about seafood.
So we have a veryspecial guest here today.
Sena Wheeler is a fifthgeneration fishermen and
co-founder of Sena Sea, Acompany delivering wild Alaska
(02:13):
seafood directly to your door.
With a master's degree innutrition and food science,
she has passion aboutsustainability, healthy
eating, and the brain boostingbenefits of wild fish.
That's amazing.
Cohost Chef Steven (02:26):
Yeah.
Host Michael Dugan (02:27):
Sena and her husband run their family
business while splitting timebetween Alaska and cheering on
their kids at school Sports.
Always with freshfish on the table.
Sena, welcome to the show.
Owner Sena Wheeler (02:41):
Thanks so much for having me.
This is fun.
Host Michael Dugan (02:44):
I am so excited, and I
know Chef Steven is too.
We've talked behind thescenes for a while about
this, and can you takeus back to the beginning?
How did Sena Sea come tolife and what sparked your
mission to bring Wild Alaskaseafood straight to customers?
Owner Sena Wheeler (03:03):
When you hear sort of, I, I do have
a master's in food science.
And I studied fish.
In particular and qualityaspects and handling
onboard handling techniques.
And my husband is,has been a commercial
fisherman for 25 years.
So it sounds like we had a greatplan, but it was much more.
(03:24):
Organic than that.
I think sometimes youjust don't realize where
everything is leading.
So I had been working fora national food company and
then ended up staying homewith our three kids and we
were on a long road trip.
That's when sort ofthe magic happen.
Wow.
You're talking, we'reon a a six hour, nine
hour road trip actually.
Okay.
And my husband was on the.
(03:46):
He had just started doingfishing for Copper River Salmon.
So we've always long linedfor black cot and halibut.
Wow.
But he's doing this,really this Copper River
salmon, which is amazing.
And he is, was on thethe marketing board.
The marketing association.
So he's talking to me and, Ikind of start going you should
do this and you should do that.
(04:08):
You guys should market itlike grass fed beef and
you should do this and youshould be talking about that.
And he just finally looksover at me and goes.
You should.
Host Michael Dugan (04:16):
Yeah.
Owner Sena Wh (04:18):
I was like, what?
No, you should.
And he is no, youshould sell my fish.
Host Michael Dugan (04:22):
I love it.
Oh, I love it.
'cause he's already
Owner Sena Wheeler (04:24):
doing, I'd already been I'm also
kind of going, you shouldhandle it like this and you
should do this on board.
And he was like.
I'm catching the very best fishon the planet and doing all of
the premium handling techniques.
I mean, we have the best fish.
We know that.
Nobody else knows thatyou should sell it.
And so by the time we got toThanksgiving, we told everybody
(04:48):
we're starting businessand it's called Sena Sea.
Oh my gosh.
And then the crazything is we did, yeah.
You know, that's the hardpart, but we just went for it.
Host Michael Dugan (05:00):
Wow.
I mean, it's anincredible story, right?
And fifth generation.
So how does fifthgeneration come into play?
Can you tell us a littlebit more about that?
Owner Sena Wheeler (05:10):
So my my dad was a fisherman.
I grew up in the lifestyle.
We grew up in the Seattlearea and all my uncles
fished my grandfather fished.
So my, my grandfather.
Immigrated from Norway andalong with a lot of his
brothers and even each onecame over, they'd get a boat.
So they kind of fished ina big group of each guy,
(05:30):
each brother having a boat.
So for me it's very very mucha part of our upbringing with
my grandpa fishing and myuncles fishing and my dad.
And so that's, we used to callourselves third generation
'cause those are the generationsI'm thinking of right now.
Host Michael Dugan (05:46):
Right.
His
Owner Sena Wheeler (05:47):
grandfather immigrated from Norway
where he learned to fishfrom his father and so on.
And so I have this great,when I started looking into
the history, I have thisgreat obituary from his
father talking about learningcommercial fishing and being
a leader in the industry andlearning from his father.
So I was like, oh, Ineed to tax him on.
(06:08):
My parents said, youknow, it's probably more
like 300 generations.
Yeah.
Host Michael Dugan (06:13):
Yeah.
Wow.
That's amazing.
So you're very passionateabout this from meeting you
from, everything I see online.
I've listened to a couplepodcasts where you tell
your story and to me,connection is clearly at
the heart of your brand.
(06:34):
Absolutely.
The ocean, the family food.
But how do you bring that storyto life for your customers?
Owner Sena Wheeler (06:42):
I think that's been kind of the fun part
of just starting the businessbecause I didn't know, I
didn't know what it would take.
I didn't know how muchof ourselves we would
be able to put into it.
And it's, I, it's theage we live in, right?
With the internet andand we have the email
list and all the things.
And when we started youknow, if I'd done it.
(07:04):
50 years ago I would have alittle fish shop or something.
But this is the ageof the internet and
it's amazing For sure.
It's just cool to kindof ride the wave on.
Connection and howyou can do things.
I, never considered myself awriter before owning a business.
You know, I wouldn't evenwrite in birthday cards.
I didn't really like to,but you have to write.
(07:26):
I mean, if you own a smallbusiness, you're, you know,
we write emails, we're writingproject product descriptions
and things like that, so I have.
Really leaned into, forme it's the email list is
where we, really connect.
I write emails andthat's a place where I'm
have grown comfortable.
(07:47):
Okay.
Speaking, being authentic andtalking about what's going on.
And it's been fun.
It's even a little surprisingfor me sometimes to see
what comes out and we havea lot of customers who have
been along the journey andyou know, they've kind of
gotten to know our familyand kind of what we're about,
which has been really cool.
Cohost Chef Steven (08:05):
Oh my gosh.
I love that it's sucha personal story.
Owner Sena Wheeler (08:10):
And it's fun to be able to make it personal.
I, would, you know,to kind of have that
permission to go there.
And I think because ourcustomers have been involved
for a long time and it startedreally small and we kind of knew
everybody that it made it okay.
It would be hard to gopersonal, you know, if we
hadn't started that way.
Okay.
Cohost Chef Steven (08:29):
Yeah.
Has any customer ever giveany feedback, like kind
of reminded you why youstarted this whole business?
Owner Sena Wheeler (08:40):
We get some really amazing reviews
and emails and stuff, and itdoes make a big difference.
I mean, when somebody just.
When they get their boxand just say, oh my gosh,
it, it arrived perfectly.
I cooked it up tonight.
You know, I loved it so much.
Yeah.
That, yeah, that connection.
Yeah.
It really makes you feellike, oh, that's exactly,
(09:01):
that's why I'm doing this.
But we get some reviews thattalk about, it'll talk about the
first time they ever had CopperRiver salmon or a certain type
of fish, and that experience,they can recall vividly.
Or I visited friends in Alaskaand I had this fish and it
was the best I've ever had.
(09:22):
And your fish bringsback that experience.
So when people.
Share their memories ofthose, really special moments.
That makes me feel like, yeah,that's why we're doing this.
That's awesome.
Host Michael Duga (09:34):
It's so cool.
I mean, I know how passionateChef Steven is about it
because we've had conversationsand I, interviewed him on
Clubhouse a couple yearsago and it was amazing.
And to listen to him.
It's very similar, likeI have that same passion.
I came from the restaurantbusiness and so my passion
(09:55):
for hospitality goes above andbeyond what anybody can imagine.
I work in technology now and Ibelieve in that and I sense it
from you and I sense it fromSteven and it's really powerful,
you know, when you have that.
And then peopleresonate with it, right?
So you get this reviewand you're connected
(10:16):
to that customer.
Cohost Chef Steven (10:17):
That's the added value to to
any kind of business.
Owner Sena Wheeler (10:23):
Yeah.
And you know, for us, alot of fishermen, they
don't get that connection.
If they're selling to aprocessing facility or
whatever it, they justdon't get that final
connection to the customer.
Oh yeah.
And so it's really special.
That's
Host Michael (10:38):
That's very true.
Yeah.
So how has social media played arole in building your community
and sharing your journey?
Owner Sena Wheeler (10:48):
I think it's, social media is a really
fun place to share that glimpse.
And it's been fun forour business because it's
such a family business.
It's such a part of.
It's really our lifestyle.
It's who we are.
Anyways, if you just look inmy phone, there's going to be
all these fishing photos andwith the family on the boat.
(11:10):
I love it.
And there's gonnabe pictures of fish.
And so it really is this kind ofglimpse into our life anyways,
which we were living anyways.
We were already doingthis for 20 years.
And it, the interestingpart has been learning that,
oh, people are interested.
They care.
Yeah.
That's, kind of the surprisesometimes is this is our normal,
(11:33):
but people are like, oh my gosh.
Wow.
That's really cool.
Host Michael Dugan (11:38):
You know, I have this idea in my head
and it's, off, off key, but alot of people start podcasts
to tell their story, right?
And they want to,sell their book.
They, instead of doing abook, they do a podcast.
But since you've been on a lotof podcasts and you're telling
your story, I think you shouldwrite a book, not a cookbook.
I'm talking about the journey.
(11:59):
I've seen it.
Seafoods.
You know, I've
Owner Sena Wheeler (12:01):
just been starting to think about that.
Host Micha (12:03):
It would be amazing.
Just
Owner Se (12:04):
the idea, I mean, it's a little bit daunting.
But just like we'resaying that the idea that
people are interested.
That people would wanna sitdown and, read a book about it.
And what would that entail?
Because when it's so muchyour everyday life but okay.
(12:24):
I'm hearing you and I listenbecause I think it's really
Host Michael Dugan (12:26):
interesting.
I might, I listen.
Yeah.
You never know.
I listen to three or four ofyour podcast and I try not
to ask the same questions,but I really feel it.
I mean, I feel like youlive and breathe it.
It's around your family.
It's part of your culture,and you're sharing this with
so many people around thecountry and it, just makes
(12:50):
sense to me or start a podcast.
Owner Sena Wheeler (12:52):
I love it.
Host Michael Dugan (12:53):
It's just start our podcast.
Cohost Chef Steven (12:55):
I agree with the book.
Yeah.
You never know.
It would turn into amovie or, there you go.
Possibly.
Yeah.
Owner Sena Wh (13:01):
Ah, there you go.
Yeah.
Okay.
I love it.
Thank you.
Host Michael Dugan (13:04):
So what does, let's move on to, what
does sustainable fish mean toyou personally, and how do you
ensure that these values arereflected in your business?
Owner Sena Whe (13:15):
I love that one.
Especially because Ithink that sometimes.
The relationship between the,fishermen and the fish is, can
be misconstrued, especiallyfor commercial fishing.
When you're talking aboutan industry like taking the
wild Alaska salmon, which iscotton, Alaska it's, small
(13:36):
boats or 32 foot limits.
So you're talking 1, 1 1 to twoor three guys, and these are
small family boats, and that'show these operations all are.
So we aren't unique.
In the salmon industry.
But I think that just for peopleto realize that fishing is
(13:56):
usually, it is caught by thesefishing families and we've, a
lot of fishing families havebeen fishing for generations
and they want to continuefishing for generations.
They want abundant fish, theywant to live the lifestyle.
Of fishing and living offof the earth and things like
that, just like a rancheror you know, a farmer or
(14:20):
industries like that whereyou can see what you're doing.
We just have this invisibleocean, but so many
fishermen are on boardwith sustain sustainability
and what does that mean?
And our industry is actuallyvery highly regulated.
I think that people justdon't always realize how
highly regulated it is andhow, That's a great thing.
(14:44):
Everybody's on board forCopper River Salmon Each,
each fish is, it's almost.
Regulated slightlydifferent depending on the
fish and how it's caught.
Oh, okay.
The long lining fish is,regulated differently.
It's federally regulated 'causeyou catch it in federal waters.
The salmon is regulatedby the state of Alaska
(15:04):
and the state of Alaskahas known for a long time.
That seafood andmaintaining that seafood
is, their livelihood.
Okay?
So they have had sustainabilityinto their, in their state
constitution for a long time,and they don't allow things
like fish farming, which isgreat because fish farming
can pollute the rivers andactually affect the wild stock.
(15:28):
So things like that allow thewild stock, you know, up in
Alaska, these rivers are trulywild, but the regulations also.
The way we fish, we havevery tight openings and it's
the fish are monitored, thereturn, so the fish crossing
going up river to spawn,they're actually being counted
(15:50):
with fish counters and thedata's being looked at daily.
And if targets are being hitfor how many fish are returning,
then openings are opened.
And if there's targets aren'tbeing hit, then it doesn't open.
Oh, and so it's first the, wehave the escapement for next
year or in four years, andthen fishing on the extra.
Host Michael Dugan (16:13):
Yeah.
So you're not just goingand taking it all and
then hoping that it'sgonna replenish itself?
No.
Okay.
That's fantastic.
Do you have any questionsaround sustainability?
Chef Steven?
I know you're reallypassionate about.
Cohost Chef Steven (16:26):
Yeah I, think sustainability
is mentioned a lot indifferent, you know,
aspects other than seafood.
I think I have aquestion about quality.
Because you mentioned thatcustomer feedback they,
were very nice of describingthey had the fish in Alaska
(16:50):
and yours was better, oralmost up to the same part.
How, do you keep the qualityyou know, same question.
Oh, yeah.
Right, right, right.
Good one.
How do you make sure it arrivethat, that freshness from
the ocean to, the doorsteps?
Right.
Absolutely the quality starts.
The second that fishcomes out of the water.
(17:12):
So when that fish is caught.
So the quality reallystarts with the fishermen
and having a qualityminded fishermen and boat.
So the setup, but the momentthat fish comes out of the
water, it need to be, it needsto be handled really carefully.
So you can't have that fishflopping on the dock, on the
deck safe, for example, if it's.
If it's flopping, it's bruisingand it's building up lactic
(17:34):
acid and heat and it's allabout the time and temperature,
so you need to get that fishchilled, handled carefully and
chilled as fast as possible.
So that's the beautyof these small boats.
And when you, copper River,which is where we fish, so
fish actually come in prettyslow, and so you're able to.
(17:56):
Bleed.
We have a high pressure bleedbox, so you're using pressure,
water pressure to actuallypush the blood out very
quickly, but it's also chillingthat fish really quickly.
So it's just amazing.
How quickly can you get eachindividual fish chilled and
then they're laid on ice,and ice scooped on top.
So the perfect temperaturefor the fish is actually.
(18:17):
Melting ice.
You want just a littlebit of ice on top.
So it's that melting ice isit, is that 32 degrees of the
perfect temperature where you'renot exactly freezing it yet, but
you're as cold as you can be.
Yeah.
Amazing.
And you know, seeing thesefishermen lay every fish
down, you know, shovea little sprinkle of
(18:38):
ice, you know, repeat.
Very carefully.
Even things like, my husbandis fishermen and he has
the processing facility, sohaving control over every
step and he still does both.
So he's fishing and theydid things like, and they of
course give a better priceto the fishermen if it's
handled better and chilledand, the, better systems.
(18:59):
But he even started giving thema bonus if, their bag is small.
So they, they.
pile the fish in the brailerbags they're, even telling
the fishermen, listen,don't overfill the bag
because the fish on thebottom, it gets too heavy.
Yeah.
So the really detailedinstructions on you know,
how we handle our fish andthe fishermen, they love it
(19:21):
because they take a lot ofpride in the quality of their
fish that they're delivering.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that's just on board.
Now take that allthe way through.
You know, you got theprocessing facility and every
step it takes, and it's alltime, temperature, every
way, everywhere through,
Host Mi (19:41):
but also your packaging for sustainability and,
Yeah, thinking about theenvironment, I was really
impressed with that.
Can you tell us a littlebit about what goes
into your packaging?
I know you, you're verypassionate about that.
Owner Sena Wheeler (19:56):
Yes.
We ship to people's doorand so we wanna be really
thoughtful about that.
Just in it in itself, youknow, we're getting it to your
door and packaging and it isvery common when we started
for, everyone to use styrofoamwhen it's coming to fish.
Because you wanna keep it cool,it's all, you know, you've gotta
(20:16):
keep that temperature down.
But we took our time and reallylooked at alternatives and
we use a sustainable, foam.
It's actually acorn starch base.
My kids used to come.
Yeah, I found that
Host Michael (20:30):
very interesting.
Owner Sena Wheeler (20:32):
I told my kids, it's edible kids way back.
It's edible.
Yes.
And we did a lot of testingand so they would just
think it was so hilarious.
They'd walk into the warehouseand grab our foam and just
take a bite out of it and I'm,Hey, I need that for shipping.
You can't just bite the.
Host Michael Du (20:51):
That's awesome.
That is awesome.
I love that.
Oh my gosh.
But you know, there's so muchthat goes into it and most of
us, like I wasn't aware of allthe steps and all the care and
all these things, especiallyto protect the fishery, right?
Yeah.
I interviewed Tom Douglasand he started talking
(21:12):
about that, and I love Tom.
Oh my gosh, he'sone of my idols.
And he got so passionate aboutcopper, salmon and all the
things that are going on there.
And so when you startedtalking about it and I
started reading about it, Ijust, I got, really excited.
I love Copper River too.
Owner Sena Wheeler (21:29):
He's amazing And and he gets it.
Host Michael Dugan (21:33):
Oh yeah.
Owner Sena (21:33):
Protect the salmon.
Protect the industrythat protects the salmon.
Because if we don't have thisfishing industry, you know,
that cares so much about thereturn of these fish, what
will happen to these rivers?
Who's gonna keepthe deforestation
and the mining away?
It's these fishermen and fishingcommunities and the industry
(21:54):
of fishing that's advocatingfor these clean rivers.
The pebble mine.
I know he's a big advocateor you know, I was
Host Michael Dugan (22:02):
gonna say, yeah, that's it right there.
Yeah.
Keeping the
Owner Sena Wheeler (22:04):
pebble mine away and things like that.
I mean, not putting a mine atthe head of our biggest wild
salmon run on the planet.
That stuff is, it mattersand, it's working.
You know, they're notputting in pedal pebble mind.
So it's great to see peoplelike him really care, be
(22:25):
passionate and put their,throw their weight into it.
Host Michael Dugan (22:28):
Yeah, he just was on fire.
You know, as soon as Imentioned it, I'm like,
I couldn't stop him.
And it was great because I'mvery passionate about it too.
What you have to understand isI've been to Alaska on my 40th.
I went and flew and stayedfor nine days on Alagnak
River, and we floated it.
Cool.
Oh wow.
And it's all about conservation.
(22:49):
It's all about preserving.
I wanted to see abear in my life.
On my bucket list was to seea grizzly in the wild 14.
That trip.
Wow.
Wow.
14. Including watching a motherwith its cubs swimming across
the river going up on a hill.
Oh, wow.
And it was just priceless.
But it's all about thatwhole cycle, not just the
(23:11):
salmon, but it's everythinginvolved in the cycle.
Sure.
And it's very powerful, and it'sall about conservation, so I'm
really passionate about that.
What do you find mostmeaningful about running a
family-based seafood business?
Owner Sena Wheeler (23:25):
We talked about that customer connection,
but I think that the way we'rerunning this, it's fun for
our kids to see every step.
So in the summer we'll goup to Alaska and we live
on the boat and we fish onthe boat with my husband.
And you know, they knoweverybody on the boat has a job
and they have jobs on the boat.
(23:46):
And then often we'll come home,we don't do as many farmer's
markets anymore, but we weredoing quite a few pre COVID.
So then they'd come home andthey would be coming around
to farmer's markets with me.
And.
Selling the fish, talking tothe customers, and to be able
to sit there and tell people,yeah, I, you know, I helped
catch this fish and this ishow, we catch it and this is
(24:07):
how we do, and we help cut it.
We're at, we, see every step.
And so for them to see thework and energy that we put
into it and the passion,I think is really cool.
Host Michae (24:20):
Oh, that's awesome.
What products?
I don't want tocall 'em products.
'cause to me , seafoodis everything.
But what seafood do yourcustomers rave about the most?
Owner Sena Wheeler (24:36):
Oh, I would say copper River
Sockeye is, our backbone.
Copper River, Sockeye I,wanna just put on the.
Website.
This is what you're coming for.
I know that.
Yeah.
Here, you go.
Because a lot of people thatare coming to our site are
coming for Copper River Sockeye.
(24:56):
We have Copper RiverKing, which is, you know,
the most amazing salmon.
But, we sell out and wedon't always have it.
And it's somethingreally special.
You know, if you can afford itand you ever see it available,
definitely try the king.
But we eat the king,you know, in June.
But we're eating Copper Riversockeye the rest of the year
(25:18):
along with our customersbecause that's what's available.
So that's our backbone.
But then I think it's funwhen people, we have a
lot of different cuts andwe do different things.
You know, we scrape thebackbone of every fish.
We have chops where we'reutilizing the white fish,
we take the skin off and thebones off so you can, it's
(25:41):
ready to use in recipes.
So I think what's fun is when.
People come for what theyknow and love or they've
heard about and then endup trying something new.
Host Michael Dugan (25:51):
Sure.
Yeah.
Steven talk.
Why don't you chime in about
Cohost Chef Ste (25:57):
your favorites?
I, think I haven't tried,any of product line yet, but
I, I think my favorite and,of all time.
Is actually, you know, cod'cause it's so Black Cod.
Yeah.
So easy.
Oh, the
Owner Sena Wheeler (26:15):
Black Cod.
Yeah.
Yeah,
Cohost Chef Steven (26:17):
the Black Cod 'cause it's so easy to
cook and there's so manyvariation that you can do.
And I checked out Sena's websitewith all the recipes Oh yeah.
And blogs.
I feel like from lookingat all the recipes I have,
the first thought was, oh,this is very interesting.
(26:38):
We're trying to get peopleto eat more seafood or cod
or whatever fish that's,available with these vast
variety of, recipes from kebabsto stews and even patties.
And, then and, also barbecues.
(26:59):
So there's so many.
I feel like there's so manystyles to get more people.
To understand it and, don'tbe intimidated to cook them.
Owner Sena Wheeler (27:11):
Oh yeah.
I love to introducepeople to Black Cod or
also called Sable Fish.
It's, you know, when wecatch it, it's called Black
Cod on our fish tickets.
And when we sell it,we have to sell it as
Sable fish for labeling.
And so that's why you see,you hear it both ways.
And as fishermen, weknow it as black cod.
And you know, it's interesting'cause I see it both ways in
(27:33):
restaurants also, but it'sjust one of those things.
I mean, it's one of thosefish that's gonna have
probably many names.
Yeah.
But that's a really fun one tointroduce people to because they
maybe haven't had it before.
It's something that I oftenserve to guests because
people try Black Co andthey're like, what is this?
So rich and buttery, unlikea lot of white fish that can
(27:56):
be very, it's not regular
Host Michael Dugan (27:58):
cod, it's not regular cod.
Yeah.
It is very unique and it's so
Cohost Chef (28:03):
forgiving when, you
Host Michael Duga (28:04):
cook it, it's
Cohos (28:05):
doesn't dry out too much.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Owner Sena Wheeler (28:07):
When I have guests, I cook it and people
think I'm an amazing chef,and I'm like, Ooh, you know,
it's really just the Black Cod
Cohost Chef Steven (28:15):
The, product shined itself, but
I'm, very interested to.
After reading this backgroundI'm very interested to learn
what is quantifying omegathrees in the fish and,
what does that do in healthbenefits, because I'm very,
(28:35):
I'm not professional in anyway of nutritional knowledge
but I'm very passionate about.
Eating very nutritious.
I think food heal the body,so I'm very interested to, to
learn more about that part.
Owner Sena Wheeler (28:51):
Yeah.
Quantifying omega threes,that makes it sound
like you read my thesis.
That was part of my master'sdegree was quantifying the
omega threes of That's awesome.
West coast alba cor tunaand quantifying is just
counting, but it's justmeasuring how many, how much
omega threes are in the fish.
And what's really interestingis, I was doing that in the
(29:16):
let's see, early two thousands.
And at the time I was workingfor a seafood lab and I was
getting my master's degree andthe West Coast Albacore people
that association of people thatcatch it had said they had came,
come to my professor and said.
The Copper River peopleare doing such an amazing
(29:37):
job marketing CopperRiver Salmon because it
has high omega threes.
And that's what we want to do.
And so the first step is we needto measure the omega threes in
our West coast Albacore tuna.
And that's what I was doing.
And I had no idea I would laterbe even, we had, we weren't
even catching Copper Riversalmon at the time, so I had
(29:57):
no idea I would be involvedwith Copper River Salmon.
My whole, my family andmy husband were catching.
Halibut and BlackCod at the time.
And so I got to work with thisincredible Albacore , which
I don't sell because we don'tcatch it in Alaska, but.
What a amazingfish to work with.
So I was measuring the omegathrees in a very laboratory way.
(30:22):
Chemicals in a lab, youknow, bunson burner kind
of very very laboratory.
But then, you know, and I'd usethis funny drill bit to kind of.
Host Michael Dugan (30:33):
Oh wow.
Get core samplesout of the fish.
I had these zones,
Owner Sena Wheeler (30:37):
oh my gosh.
I was doing zones of thefish and I was getting core
samples out of each zone.
And these, fish came from boatsthat were right there in the
harbor that had, you know,handled them in certain ways.
So anyways, then I'mbringing these fish home.
They have the core samplesdrilled out and then.
My husband, Rich, is wehave a smoker and he's
like smoking these Westcoast Albacore my gosh.
(30:58):
Belly flaps andthings like that.
I mean, it was reallyamazing because we ate so
good and I have such anappreciation for that fish.
It's an incredible fish.
Host Michael Dugan (31:09):
I love it.
I love
Owner Sena Wheeler (31:10):
it.
So that's a sidetrack.
No,
Host Michael Du (31:12):
that's awesome.
But the omegathrees very amazing.
Owner Sena Wheeler (31:15):
Just to kind of dive back into your
question is you know, onFish, what's amazing is that.
The fat is Omega-3 in theform of omega threes or fatty
acids Is, healthy for you.
And so on fish, you just getthis real double duty where
the fat makes it taste good.
It gives you that mouth feel.
(31:36):
The moistness and the flavor.
So where the fat makesit taste good, but it's
because it's omega threes.
It's also.
Healthy.
So omega threes arehealthy for our body.
It's one of those thingsthat we don't make ourselves.
So we need to eat omegathrees in our food source and.
When it comes to fish, it'slike we get to, you get
(31:57):
to really celebrate thathealthy fat because it tastes
good and it's delicious.
Yeah.
Or tastes good,delicious and healthy.
How about that?
Yes.
Host Michael Dugan (32:07):
As we wrap up, for listeners who wanna
support you, how can they findand order from Sena Seafoods?
Owner Se (32:15):
They should definitely come to our website at.
Senasea.com.
S-E-N-A-S-E -A.com.
And then I like to tell peopleto jump on our email list.
We have a VIP list.
That's where you'regonna hear like.
You know, when we have CopperRiver King available or
something really special.
But that's also where Ireally like to connect, like
(32:37):
I mentioned, and where you'regonna just hear more about
our family and what we'redoing, the lifestyle and
get lots of great recipes,
Host Michae (32:45):
incredible recipes.
By the way, I saw on your blog.
Something about halibutcheeks, and it brought back
a memory where a friend hadbrought back halibut cheeks
and gave me a bag of them.
Oh, yeah.
And I just went crazy.
I couldn't believe howgood and tender they were.
But you wrote about it andit just hit me so hard.
(33:08):
I have, I can't even tell youbecause every time they come
into season here I go crazy.
Owner Sena Wheeler (33:13):
Oh yeah.
That's something that, you know.
Traditionally onlyfishermen knew about.
Right, right.
It's kind of would bea hidden secret, right?
Yeah.
Host Michael Dugan (33:23):
So we got a minute and 20 seconds left.
Is there a final message thatyou'd love to leave with our
listeners around the world?
Owner Sena Wheeler (33:35):
Oh wow.
No pressure.
No pressure
Host Michael Dugan (33:37):
at all.
Owner Sena Wheeler (33:38):
I would just say, and I've been
repeating this over andover when I just talked to
my friends and everything,it's all about the food.
Everything goesback to the food.
Whether you're talkingabout community or just
feeding your family or timearound the table, or your
health or your kids' health.
Yeah, it's all about the food.
(33:59):
So just being mindful of whatyou're eating, how you're eating
taking the time to cook andprepare and eat with your family
and friends is, it matters.
Host Michael Dugan (34:13):
Okay.
Thank you so much Cina for beingwith us today, and thank you
Chef Steven for becoming ourco-host, and we'll say goodbye.
Owner Sena Wheeler (34:24):
Thank you.
Host Michael Dugan (34:25):
All right.
Thank you all.
Take care now.
Take care.
Owner Sena Wheeler (34:29):
Thanks guys.
I'm really excited today because
(00:01):
we've already kicked offseason four, but we have a
special surprise for you.
We have a brand new co-host,chef Steven is part of our team
now, and I'm really excitedto introduce you to him, but
I thought it'd be better forhim to introduce himself.
So Chef Steven, take it away.
Cohost Chef Steven (00:22):
Of course.
Thanks so much, Michael.
I'm so excited to be here.
Listen to Michael's.
A few podcasts, and thenI was super inspired
by the conversations.
A little bit about myself isthat I was raised in the Bay
Area in California and then my,my, my career actually started
(00:42):
in Las Vegas from culinaryschool to five star hotels.
Buffet and small restaurants.
You can name it big and small,quick service, fine dining.
And so I worked the careerladder up and very excited
to highlight my career twostar Michellin Restaurant at
(01:05):
Caesars Palace is named GuySavoy, so a world renowned chef.
And then through my careerI learned different aspects
of management and differenttype of recipes and different
type of equipment becausethere's a different.
Volume for different operations.
(01:26):
Recently I left a job at theCosmopolitan of Las Vegas
as the executive sous chef.
And then now I'm doing a lotof recipe consulting, a lot of
community food related events.
Mostly, you know, networkingas well from business
owners to supply ownerslike today's guests.
(01:50):
So I'm very excitedto be here again.
Host Michael (01:52):
Fantastic, Steven.
Thank you.
So we're gonna kick it off.
I'm very excited too because Ilove and obsess about seafood.
So we have a veryspecial guest here today.
Sena Wheeler is a fifthgeneration fishermen and
co-founder of Sena Sea, Acompany delivering wild Alaska
(02:13):
seafood directly to your door.
With a master's degree innutrition and food science,
she has passion aboutsustainability, healthy
eating, and the brain boostingbenefits of wild fish.
That's amazing.
Cohost Chef Steven (02:26):
Yeah.
Host Michael Dugan (02:27):
Sena and her husband run their family
business while splitting timebetween Alaska and cheering on
their kids at school Sports.
Always with freshfish on the table.
Sena, welcome to the show.
Owner Sena Wheeler (02:41):
Thanks so much for having me.
This is fun.
Host Michael Dugan (02:44):
I am so excited, and I
know Chef Steven is too.
We've talked behind thescenes for a while about
this, and can you takeus back to the beginning?
How did Sena Sea come tolife and what sparked your
mission to bring Wild Alaskaseafood straight to customers?
Owner Sena Wheeler (03:03):
When you hear sort of, I, I do have
a master's in food science.
And I studied fish.
In particular and qualityaspects and handling
onboard handling techniques.
And my husband is,has been a commercial
fisherman for 25 years.
So it sounds like we had a greatplan, but it was much more.
(03:24):
Organic than that.
I think sometimes youjust don't realize where
everything is leading.
So I had been working fora national food company and
then ended up staying homewith our three kids and we
were on a long road trip.
That's when sort ofthe magic happen.
Wow.
You're talking, we'reon a a six hour, nine
hour road trip actually.
Okay.
And my husband was on the.
(03:46):
He had just started doingfishing for Copper River Salmon.
So we've always long linedfor black cot and halibut.
Wow.
But he's doing this,really this Copper River
salmon, which is amazing.
And he is, was on thethe marketing board.
The marketing association.
So he's talking to me and, Ikind of start going you should
do this and you should do that.
(04:08):
You guys should market itlike grass fed beef and
you should do this and youshould be talking about that.
And he just finally looksover at me and goes.
You should.
Host Michael Dugan (04:16):
Yeah.
Owner Sena Wh (04:18):
I was like, what?
No, you should.
And he is no, youshould sell my fish.
Host Michael Dugan (04:22):
I love it.
Oh, I love it.
'cause he's already
Owner Sena Wheeler (04:24):
doing, I'd already been I'm also
kind of going, you shouldhandle it like this and you
should do this on board.
And he was like.
I'm catching the very best fishon the planet and doing all of
the premium handling techniques.
I mean, we have the best fish.
We know that.
Nobody else knows thatyou should sell it.
And so by the time we got toThanksgiving, we told everybody
(04:48):
we're starting businessand it's called Sena Sea.
Oh my gosh.
And then the crazything is we did, yeah.
You know, that's the hardpart, but we just went for it.
Host Michael Dugan (05:00):
Wow.
I mean, it's anincredible story, right?
And fifth generation.
So how does fifthgeneration come into play?
Can you tell us a littlebit more about that?
Owner Sena Wheeler (05:10):
So my my dad was a fisherman.
I grew up in the lifestyle.
We grew up in the Seattlearea and all my uncles
fished my grandfather fished.
So my, my grandfather.
Immigrated from Norway andalong with a lot of his
brothers and even each onecame over, they'd get a boat.
So they kind of fished ina big group of each guy,
(05:30):
each brother having a boat.
So for me it's very very mucha part of our upbringing with
my grandpa fishing and myuncles fishing and my dad.
And so that's, we used to callourselves third generation
'cause those are the generationsI'm thinking of right now.
Host Michael Dugan (05:46):
Right.
His
Owner Sena Wheeler (05:47):
grandfather immigrated from Norway
where he learned to fishfrom his father and so on.
And so I have this great,when I started looking into
the history, I have thisgreat obituary from his
father talking about learningcommercial fishing and being
a leader in the industry andlearning from his father.
So I was like, oh, Ineed to tax him on.
(06:08):
My parents said, youknow, it's probably more
like 300 generations.
Yeah.
Host Michael Dugan (06:13):
Yeah.
Wow.
That's amazing.
So you're very passionateabout this from meeting you
from, everything I see online.
I've listened to a couplepodcasts where you tell
your story and to me,connection is clearly at
the heart of your brand.
(06:34):
Absolutely.
The ocean, the family food.
But how do you bring that storyto life for your customers?
Owner Sena Wheeler (06:42):
I think that's been kind of the fun part
of just starting the businessbecause I didn't know, I
didn't know what it would take.
I didn't know how muchof ourselves we would
be able to put into it.
And it's, I, it's theage we live in, right?
With the internet andand we have the email
list and all the things.
And when we started youknow, if I'd done it.
(07:04):
50 years ago I would have alittle fish shop or something.
But this is the ageof the internet and
it's amazing For sure.
It's just cool to kindof ride the wave on.
Connection and howyou can do things.
I, never considered myself awriter before owning a business.
You know, I wouldn't evenwrite in birthday cards.
I didn't really like to,but you have to write.
(07:26):
I mean, if you own a smallbusiness, you're, you know,
we write emails, we're writingproject product descriptions
and things like that, so I have.
Really leaned into, forme it's the email list is
where we, really connect.
I write emails andthat's a place where I'm
have grown comfortable.
(07:47):
Okay.
Speaking, being authentic andtalking about what's going on.
And it's been fun.
It's even a little surprisingfor me sometimes to see
what comes out and we havea lot of customers who have
been along the journey andyou know, they've kind of
gotten to know our familyand kind of what we're about,
which has been really cool.
Cohost Chef Steven (08:05):
Oh my gosh.
I love that it's sucha personal story.
Owner Sena Wheeler (08:10):
And it's fun to be able to make it personal.
I, would, you know,to kind of have that
permission to go there.
And I think because ourcustomers have been involved
for a long time and it startedreally small and we kind of knew
everybody that it made it okay.
It would be hard to gopersonal, you know, if we
hadn't started that way.
Okay.
Cohost Chef Steven (08:29):
Yeah.
Has any customer ever giveany feedback, like kind
of reminded you why youstarted this whole business?
Owner Sena Wheeler (08:40):
We get some really amazing reviews
and emails and stuff, and itdoes make a big difference.
I mean, when somebody just.
When they get their boxand just say, oh my gosh,
it, it arrived perfectly.
I cooked it up tonight.
You know, I loved it so much.
Yeah.
That, yeah, that connection.
Yeah.
It really makes you feellike, oh, that's exactly,
(09:01):
that's why I'm doing this.
But we get some reviews thattalk about, it'll talk about the
first time they ever had CopperRiver salmon or a certain type
of fish, and that experience,they can recall vividly.
Or I visited friends in Alaskaand I had this fish and it
was the best I've ever had.
(09:22):
And your fish bringsback that experience.
So when people.
Share their memories ofthose, really special moments.
That makes me feel like, yeah,that's why we're doing this.
That's awesome.
Host Michael Duga (09:34):
It's so cool.
I mean, I know how passionateChef Steven is about it
because we've had conversationsand I, interviewed him on
Clubhouse a couple yearsago and it was amazing.
And to listen to him.
It's very similar, likeI have that same passion.
I came from the restaurantbusiness and so my passion
(09:55):
for hospitality goes above andbeyond what anybody can imagine.
I work in technology now and Ibelieve in that and I sense it
from you and I sense it fromSteven and it's really powerful,
you know, when you have that.
And then peopleresonate with it, right?
So you get this reviewand you're connected
(10:16):
to that customer.
Cohost Chef Steven (10:17):
That's the added value to to
any kind of business.
Owner Sena Wheeler (10:23):
Yeah.
And you know, for us, alot of fishermen, they
don't get that connection.
If they're selling to aprocessing facility or
whatever it, they justdon't get that final
connection to the customer.
Oh yeah.
And so it's really special.
That's
Host Michael (10:38):
That's very true.
Yeah.
So how has social media played arole in building your community
and sharing your journey?
Owner Sena Wheeler (10:48):
I think it's, social media is a really
fun place to share that glimpse.
And it's been fun forour business because it's
such a family business.
It's such a part of.
It's really our lifestyle.
It's who we are.
Anyways, if you just look inmy phone, there's going to be
all these fishing photos andwith the family on the boat.
(11:10):
I love it.
And there's gonnabe pictures of fish.
And so it really is this kind ofglimpse into our life anyways,
which we were living anyways.
We were already doingthis for 20 years.
And it, the interestingpart has been learning that,
oh, people are interested.
They care.
Yeah.
That's, kind of the surprisesometimes is this is our normal,
(11:33):
but people are like, oh my gosh.
Wow.
That's really cool.
Host Michael Dugan (11:38):
You know, I have this idea in my head
and it's, off, off key, but alot of people start podcasts
to tell their story, right?
And they want to,sell their book.
They, instead of doing abook, they do a podcast.
But since you've been on a lotof podcasts and you're telling
your story, I think you shouldwrite a book, not a cookbook.
I'm talking about the journey.
(11:59):
I've seen it.
Seafoods.
You know, I've
Owner Sena Wheeler (12:01):
just been starting to think about that.
Host Micha (12:03):
It would be amazing.
Just
Owner Se (12:04):
the idea, I mean, it's a little bit daunting.
But just like we'resaying that the idea that
people are interested.
That people would wanna sitdown and, read a book about it.
And what would that entail?
Because when it's so muchyour everyday life but okay.
(12:24):
I'm hearing you and I listenbecause I think it's really
Host Michael Dugan (12:26):
interesting.
I might, I listen.
Yeah.
You never know.
I listen to three or four ofyour podcast and I try not
to ask the same questions,but I really feel it.
I mean, I feel like youlive and breathe it.
It's around your family.
It's part of your culture,and you're sharing this with
so many people around thecountry and it, just makes
(12:50):
sense to me or start a podcast.
Owner Sena Wheeler (12:52):
I love it.
Host Michael Dugan (12:53):
It's just start our podcast.
Cohost Chef Steven (12:55):
I agree with the book.
Yeah.
You never know.
It would turn into amovie or, there you go.
Possibly.
Yeah.
Owner Sena Wh (13:01):
Ah, there you go.
Yeah.
Okay.
I love it.
Thank you.
Host Michael Dugan (13:04):
So what does, let's move on to, what
does sustainable fish mean toyou personally, and how do you
ensure that these values arereflected in your business?
Owner Sena Whe (13:15):
I love that one.
Especially because Ithink that sometimes.
The relationship between the,fishermen and the fish is, can
be misconstrued, especiallyfor commercial fishing.
When you're talking aboutan industry like taking the
wild Alaska salmon, which iscotton, Alaska it's, small
(13:36):
boats or 32 foot limits.
So you're talking 1, 1 1 to twoor three guys, and these are
small family boats, and that'show these operations all are.
So we aren't unique.
In the salmon industry.
But I think that just for peopleto realize that fishing is
(13:56):
usually, it is caught by thesefishing families and we've, a
lot of fishing families havebeen fishing for generations
and they want to continuefishing for generations.
They want abundant fish, theywant to live the lifestyle.
Of fishing and living offof the earth and things like
that, just like a rancheror you know, a farmer or
(14:20):
industries like that whereyou can see what you're doing.
We just have this invisibleocean, but so many
fishermen are on boardwith sustain sustainability
and what does that mean?
And our industry is actuallyvery highly regulated.
I think that people justdon't always realize how
highly regulated it is andhow, That's a great thing.
(14:44):
Everybody's on board forCopper River Salmon Each,
each fish is, it's almost.
Regulated slightlydifferent depending on the
fish and how it's caught.
Oh, okay.
The long lining fish is,regulated differently.
It's federally regulated 'causeyou catch it in federal waters.
The salmon is regulatedby the state of Alaska
(15:04):
and the state of Alaskahas known for a long time.
That seafood andmaintaining that seafood
is, their livelihood.
Okay?
So they have had sustainabilityinto their, in their state
constitution for a long time,and they don't allow things
like fish farming, which isgreat because fish farming
can pollute the rivers andactually affect the wild stock.
(15:28):
So things like that allow thewild stock, you know, up in
Alaska, these rivers are trulywild, but the regulations also.
The way we fish, we havevery tight openings and it's
the fish are monitored, thereturn, so the fish crossing
going up river to spawn,they're actually being counted
(15:50):
with fish counters and thedata's being looked at daily.
And if targets are being hitfor how many fish are returning,
then openings are opened.
And if there's targets aren'tbeing hit, then it doesn't open.
Oh, and so it's first the, wehave the escapement for next
year or in four years, andthen fishing on the extra.
Host Michael Dugan (16:13):
Yeah.
So you're not just goingand taking it all and
then hoping that it'sgonna replenish itself?
No.
Okay.
That's fantastic.
Do you have any questionsaround sustainability?
Chef Steven?
I know you're reallypassionate about.
Cohost Chef Steven (16:26):
Yeah I, think sustainability
is mentioned a lot indifferent, you know,
aspects other than seafood.
I think I have aquestion about quality.
Because you mentioned thatcustomer feedback they,
were very nice of describingthey had the fish in Alaska
(16:50):
and yours was better, oralmost up to the same part.
How, do you keep the qualityyou know, same question.
Oh, yeah.
Right, right, right.
Good one.
How do you make sure it arrivethat, that freshness from
the ocean to, the doorsteps?
Right.
Absolutely the quality starts.
The second that fishcomes out of the water.
(17:12):
So when that fish is caught.
So the quality reallystarts with the fishermen
and having a qualityminded fishermen and boat.
So the setup, but the momentthat fish comes out of the
water, it need to be, it needsto be handled really carefully.
So you can't have that fishflopping on the dock, on the
deck safe, for example, if it's.
If it's flopping, it's bruisingand it's building up lactic
(17:34):
acid and heat and it's allabout the time and temperature,
so you need to get that fishchilled, handled carefully and
chilled as fast as possible.
So that's the beautyof these small boats.
And when you, copper River,which is where we fish, so
fish actually come in prettyslow, and so you're able to.
(17:56):
Bleed.
We have a high pressure bleedbox, so you're using pressure,
water pressure to actuallypush the blood out very
quickly, but it's also chillingthat fish really quickly.
So it's just amazing.
How quickly can you get eachindividual fish chilled and
then they're laid on ice,and ice scooped on top.
So the perfect temperaturefor the fish is actually.
(18:17):
Melting ice.
You want just a littlebit of ice on top.
So it's that melting ice isit, is that 32 degrees of the
perfect temperature where you'renot exactly freezing it yet, but
you're as cold as you can be.
Yeah.
Amazing.
And you know, seeing thesefishermen lay every fish
down, you know, shovea little sprinkle of
(18:38):
ice, you know, repeat.
Very carefully.
Even things like, my husbandis fishermen and he has
the processing facility, sohaving control over every
step and he still does both.
So he's fishing and theydid things like, and they of
course give a better priceto the fishermen if it's
handled better and chilledand, the, better systems.
(18:59):
But he even started giving thema bonus if, their bag is small.
So they, they.
pile the fish in the brailerbags they're, even telling
the fishermen, listen,don't overfill the bag
because the fish on thebottom, it gets too heavy.
Yeah.
So the really detailedinstructions on you know,
how we handle our fish andthe fishermen, they love it
(19:21):
because they take a lot ofpride in the quality of their
fish that they're delivering.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that's just on board.
Now take that allthe way through.
You know, you got theprocessing facility and every
step it takes, and it's alltime, temperature, every
way, everywhere through,
Host Mi (19:41):
but also your packaging for sustainability and,
Yeah, thinking about theenvironment, I was really
impressed with that.
Can you tell us a littlebit about what goes
into your packaging?
I know you, you're verypassionate about that.
Owner Sena Wheeler (19:56):
Yes.
We ship to people's doorand so we wanna be really
thoughtful about that.
Just in it in itself, youknow, we're getting it to your
door and packaging and it isvery common when we started
for, everyone to use styrofoamwhen it's coming to fish.
Because you wanna keep it cool,it's all, you know, you've gotta
(20:16):
keep that temperature down.
But we took our time and reallylooked at alternatives and
we use a sustainable, foam.
It's actually acorn starch base.
My kids used to come.
Yeah, I found that
Host Michael (20:30):
very interesting.
Owner Sena Wheeler (20:32):
I told my kids, it's edible kids way back.
It's edible.
Yes.
And we did a lot of testingand so they would just
think it was so hilarious.
They'd walk into the warehouseand grab our foam and just
take a bite out of it and I'm,Hey, I need that for shipping.
You can't just bite the.
Host Michael Du (20:51):
That's awesome.
That is awesome.
I love that.
Oh my gosh.
But you know, there's so muchthat goes into it and most of
us, like I wasn't aware of allthe steps and all the care and
all these things, especiallyto protect the fishery, right?
Yeah.
I interviewed Tom Douglasand he started talking
(21:12):
about that, and I love Tom.
Oh my gosh, he'sone of my idols.
And he got so passionate aboutcopper, salmon and all the
things that are going on there.
And so when you startedtalking about it and I
started reading about it, Ijust, I got, really excited.
I love Copper River too.
Owner Sena Wheeler (21:29):
He's amazing And and he gets it.
Host Michael Dugan (21:33):
Oh yeah.
Owner Sena (21:33):
Protect the salmon.
Protect the industrythat protects the salmon.
Because if we don't have thisfishing industry, you know,
that cares so much about thereturn of these fish, what
will happen to these rivers?
Who's gonna keepthe deforestation
and the mining away?
It's these fishermen and fishingcommunities and the industry
(21:54):
of fishing that's advocatingfor these clean rivers.
The pebble mine.
I know he's a big advocateor you know, I was
Host Michael Dugan (22:02):
gonna say, yeah, that's it right there.
Yeah.
Keeping the
Owner Sena Wheeler (22:04):
pebble mine away and things like that.
I mean, not putting a mine atthe head of our biggest wild
salmon run on the planet.
That stuff is, it mattersand, it's working.
You know, they're notputting in pedal pebble mind.
So it's great to see peoplelike him really care, be
(22:25):
passionate and put their,throw their weight into it.
Host Michael Dugan (22:28):
Yeah, he just was on fire.
You know, as soon as Imentioned it, I'm like,
I couldn't stop him.
And it was great because I'mvery passionate about it too.
What you have to understand isI've been to Alaska on my 40th.
I went and flew and stayedfor nine days on Alagnak
River, and we floated it.
Cool.
Oh wow.
And it's all about conservation.
(22:49):
It's all about preserving.
I wanted to see abear in my life.
On my bucket list was to seea grizzly in the wild 14.
That trip.
Wow.
Wow.
14. Including watching a motherwith its cubs swimming across
the river going up on a hill.
Oh, wow.
And it was just priceless.
But it's all about thatwhole cycle, not just the
(23:11):
salmon, but it's everythinginvolved in the cycle.
Sure.
And it's very powerful, and it'sall about conservation, so I'm
really passionate about that.
What do you find mostmeaningful about running a
family-based seafood business?
Owner Sena Wheeler (23:25):
We talked about that customer connection,
but I think that the way we'rerunning this, it's fun for
our kids to see every step.
So in the summer we'll goup to Alaska and we live
on the boat and we fish onthe boat with my husband.
And you know, they knoweverybody on the boat has a job
and they have jobs on the boat.
(23:46):
And then often we'll come home,we don't do as many farmer's
markets anymore, but we weredoing quite a few pre COVID.
So then they'd come home andthey would be coming around
to farmer's markets with me.
And.
Selling the fish, talking tothe customers, and to be able
to sit there and tell people,yeah, I, you know, I helped
catch this fish and this ishow, we catch it and this is
(24:07):
how we do, and we help cut it.
We're at, we, see every step.
And so for them to see thework and energy that we put
into it and the passion,I think is really cool.
Host Michae (24:20):
Oh, that's awesome.
What products?
I don't want tocall 'em products.
'cause to me , seafoodis everything.
But what seafood do yourcustomers rave about the most?
Owner Sena Wheeler (24:36):
Oh, I would say copper River
Sockeye is, our backbone.
Copper River, Sockeye I,wanna just put on the.
Website.
This is what you're coming for.
I know that.
Yeah.
Here, you go.
Because a lot of people thatare coming to our site are
coming for Copper River Sockeye.
(24:56):
We have Copper RiverKing, which is, you know,
the most amazing salmon.
But, we sell out and wedon't always have it.
And it's somethingreally special.
You know, if you can afford itand you ever see it available,
definitely try the king.
But we eat the king,you know, in June.
But we're eating Copper Riversockeye the rest of the year
(25:18):
along with our customersbecause that's what's available.
So that's our backbone.
But then I think it's funwhen people, we have a
lot of different cuts andwe do different things.
You know, we scrape thebackbone of every fish.
We have chops where we'reutilizing the white fish,
we take the skin off and thebones off so you can, it's
(25:41):
ready to use in recipes.
So I think what's fun is when.
People come for what theyknow and love or they've
heard about and then endup trying something new.
Host Michael Dugan (25:51):
Sure.
Yeah.
Steven talk.
Why don't you chime in about
Cohost Chef Ste (25:57):
your favorites?
I, think I haven't tried,any of product line yet, but
I, I think my favorite and,of all time.
Is actually, you know, cod'cause it's so Black Cod.
Yeah.
So easy.
Oh, the
Owner Sena Wheeler (26:15):
Black Cod.
Yeah.
Yeah,
Cohost Chef Steven (26:17):
the Black Cod 'cause it's so easy to
cook and there's so manyvariation that you can do.
And I checked out Sena's websitewith all the recipes Oh yeah.
And blogs.
I feel like from lookingat all the recipes I have,
the first thought was, oh,this is very interesting.
(26:38):
We're trying to get peopleto eat more seafood or cod
or whatever fish that's,available with these vast
variety of, recipes from kebabsto stews and even patties.
And, then and, also barbecues.
(26:59):
So there's so many.
I feel like there's so manystyles to get more people.
To understand it and, don'tbe intimidated to cook them.
Owner Sena Wheeler (27:11):
Oh yeah.
I love to introducepeople to Black Cod or
also called Sable Fish.
It's, you know, when wecatch it, it's called Black
Cod on our fish tickets.
And when we sell it,we have to sell it as
Sable fish for labeling.
And so that's why you see,you hear it both ways.
And as fishermen, weknow it as black cod.
And you know, it's interesting'cause I see it both ways in
(27:33):
restaurants also, but it'sjust one of those things.
I mean, it's one of thosefish that's gonna have
probably many names.
Yeah.
But that's a really fun one tointroduce people to because they
maybe haven't had it before.
It's something that I oftenserve to guests because
people try Black Co andthey're like, what is this?
So rich and buttery, unlikea lot of white fish that can
(27:56):
be very, it's not regular
Host Michael Dugan (27:58):
cod, it's not regular cod.
Yeah.
It is very unique and it's so
Cohost Chef (28:03):
forgiving when, you
Host Michael Duga (28:04):
cook it, it's
Cohos (28:05):
doesn't dry out too much.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Owner Sena Wheeler (28:07):
When I have guests, I cook it and people
think I'm an amazing chef,and I'm like, Ooh, you know,
it's really just the Black Cod
Cohost Chef Steven (28:15):
The, product shined itself, but
I'm, very interested to.
After reading this backgroundI'm very interested to learn
what is quantifying omegathrees in the fish and,
what does that do in healthbenefits, because I'm very,
(28:35):
I'm not professional in anyway of nutritional knowledge
but I'm very passionate about.
Eating very nutritious.
I think food heal the body,so I'm very interested to, to
learn more about that part.
Owner Sena Wheeler (28:51):
Yeah.
Quantifying omega threes,that makes it sound
like you read my thesis.
That was part of my master'sdegree was quantifying the
omega threes of That's awesome.
West coast alba cor tunaand quantifying is just
counting, but it's justmeasuring how many, how much
omega threes are in the fish.
And what's really interestingis, I was doing that in the
(29:16):
let's see, early two thousands.
And at the time I was workingfor a seafood lab and I was
getting my master's degree andthe West Coast Albacore people
that association of people thatcatch it had said they had came,
come to my professor and said.
The Copper River peopleare doing such an amazing
(29:37):
job marketing CopperRiver Salmon because it
has high omega threes.
And that's what we want to do.
And so the first step is we needto measure the omega threes in
our West coast Albacore tuna.
And that's what I was doing.
And I had no idea I would laterbe even, we had, we weren't
even catching Copper Riversalmon at the time, so I had
(29:57):
no idea I would be involvedwith Copper River Salmon.
My whole, my family andmy husband were catching.
Halibut and BlackCod at the time.
And so I got to work with thisincredible Albacore , which
I don't sell because we don'tcatch it in Alaska, but.
What a amazingfish to work with.
So I was measuring the omegathrees in a very laboratory way.
(30:22):
Chemicals in a lab, youknow, bunson burner kind
of very very laboratory.
But then, you know, and I'd usethis funny drill bit to kind of.
Host Michael Dugan (30:33):
Oh wow.
Get core samplesout of the fish.
I had these zones,
Owner Sena Wheeler (30:37):
oh my gosh.
I was doing zones of thefish and I was getting core
samples out of each zone.
And these, fish came from boatsthat were right there in the
harbor that had, you know,handled them in certain ways.
So anyways, then I'mbringing these fish home.
They have the core samplesdrilled out and then.
My husband, Rich, is wehave a smoker and he's
like smoking these Westcoast Albacore my gosh.
(30:58):
Belly flaps andthings like that.
I mean, it was reallyamazing because we ate so
good and I have such anappreciation for that fish.
It's an incredible fish.
Host Michael Dugan (31:09):
I love it.
I love
Owner Sena Wheeler (31:10):
it.
So that's a sidetrack.
No,
Host Michael Du (31:12):
that's awesome.
But the omegathrees very amazing.
Owner Sena Wheeler (31:15):
Just to kind of dive back into your
question is you know, onFish, what's amazing is that.
The fat is Omega-3 in theform of omega threes or fatty
acids Is, healthy for you.
And so on fish, you just getthis real double duty where
the fat makes it taste good.
It gives you that mouth feel.
(31:36):
The moistness and the flavor.
So where the fat makesit taste good, but it's
because it's omega threes.
It's also.
Healthy.
So omega threes arehealthy for our body.
It's one of those thingsthat we don't make ourselves.
So we need to eat omegathrees in our food source and.
When it comes to fish, it'slike we get to, you get
(31:57):
to really celebrate thathealthy fat because it tastes
good and it's delicious.
Yeah.
Or tastes good,delicious and healthy.
How about that?
Yes.
Host Michael Dugan (32:07):
As we wrap up, for listeners who wanna
support you, how can they findand order from Sena Seafoods?
Owner Se (32:15):
They should definitely come to our website at.
Senasea.com.
S-E-N-A-S-E -A.com.
And then I like to tell peopleto jump on our email list.
We have a VIP list.
That's where you'regonna hear like.
You know, when we have CopperRiver King available or
something really special.
But that's also where Ireally like to connect, like
(32:37):
I mentioned, and where you'regonna just hear more about
our family and what we'redoing, the lifestyle and
get lots of great recipes,
Host Michae (32:45):
incredible recipes.
By the way, I saw on your blog.
Something about halibutcheeks, and it brought back
a memory where a friend hadbrought back halibut cheeks
and gave me a bag of them.
Oh, yeah.
And I just went crazy.
I couldn't believe howgood and tender they were.
But you wrote about it andit just hit me so hard.
(33:08):
I have, I can't even tell youbecause every time they come
into season here I go crazy.
Owner Sena Wheeler (33:13):
Oh yeah.
That's something that, you know.
Traditionally onlyfishermen knew about.
Right, right.
It's kind of would bea hidden secret, right?
Yeah.
Host Michael Dugan (33:23):
So we got a minute and 20 seconds left.
Is there a final message thatyou'd love to leave with our
listeners around the world?
Owner Sena Wheeler (33:35):
Oh wow.
No pressure.
No pressure
Host Michael Dugan (33:37):
at all.
Owner Sena Wheeler (33:38):
I would just say, and I've been
repeating this over andover when I just talked to
my friends and everything,it's all about the food.
Everything goesback to the food.
Whether you're talkingabout community or just
feeding your family or timearound the table, or your
health or your kids' health.
Yeah, it's all about the food.
(33:59):
So just being mindful of whatyou're eating, how you're eating
taking the time to cook andprepare and eat with your family
and friends is, it matters.
Host Michael Dugan (34:13):
Okay.
Thank you so much Cina for beingwith us today, and thank you
Chef Steven for becoming ourco-host, and we'll say goodbye.
Owner Sena Wheeler (34:24):
Thank you.
Host Michael Dugan (34:25):
All right.
Thank you all.
Take care now.
Take care.
Owner Sena Wheeler (34:29):
Thanks guys.
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