I can remember working at a fish plant in Ukee back in 1991. I was hired to grade troll caught salmon and the general price difference between reds and whites was somewhat hard to swallow for the fleet. They were offered 80 cents a pound for large whites and $3.50 for large reds. They refused to go out until they were offered a better price for whites. After a week the buyers relented and both settled at $1.20. That year was the beginning of the end for the commercial troll fleet's market because the fish farming industry apparently went nuts. The Norwegians were providing the Jewish community with fresh farmed fish at a time of year when BC stocks were unavailable. So they flooded the market which drove demand for "whitish" fleshed salmon down and prices plummeted. Prior to this year whites were not graded out at offloading unless by special agreement between fisher and buyer, most were graded later at the processors.
I gotta say it was NOT a pleasant experience for ME. My boss told me that ANY spring that was not RED was to be considered a white. You can bet that EVERYONE was looking over my shoulder and numerous arguments ensued. All the marbles and every shade of pink had to be sorted as a white. I'd just point to the guy in the shack whenever some skipper started freaking out,
The boss would come out and the fun started, meanwhile, I'm just trying to avoid the abuse. It was quite common to see the largest fish in the catch being snowballs and you can just imagine what it would be worth had it been red.