Is pink salmon the same as Alaskan?

Canned pink salmon is often from the Pacific North West. Here is some info on pink salmon. You can also go to the Chicken of the Sea website to see what they say. That's about as much help as we can provide given your question. We are not a suggestion or recipe sharing site.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, so I know quite a bit about salmon. You have to, or they exile you.

First, I have no idea why you'd think that Alaskan salmon is bad. Given their extensive river networks and vast areas of untouched wilderness, Alaskans catch some of the best salmon in the world. The salmon that is categorically inferior is farmed salmon, or salmon that's raised in a pen. Now, farmed salmon tends to have a lighter, "pink" color to it compared with wild-caught, so I can see how you might get confused between that and Pink Salmon.

Pink Salmon is a specific species of salmon. It's not considered as desireable as Coho, Chinook, King, or Sockeye, mostly because the shorter lifespan of the Pink Salmon means that it has a less well-developed flavor. However, its short lifespan also means that it bounces back quickly from fishing, and as a result is the most sustainable and ecologically responsible salmon to eat. They catch a lot of Pink Salmon in Alaska, but it's also available from Canada, Washington, Oregon, and Russia.

And ... since you're using commercially canned salmon, you're really not going to taste a lot of difference between salmon varieties anyway.

If you want to try a little better quality canned salmon, I'd suggest any of these brands: Wild Planet, Crown Prince Natural, or North Pacific Seafood (although, to be fair, Chicken of the Sea isn't bad). You can also splurge and order from a tiny specialty place like Totem SmokeHouse. You can also try Canned Red Salmon, which is generally Sockeye, and has a different flavor.