In 1957, Anacortes, WA fisherman Tom Savidge and his wife Marie built a backyard smokehouse and began selling smoked wild salmon to local taverns. With that, Specialty Seafoods (later renamed SeaBear after Native American legend) was born. The tavern owners loved Tom's smoked salmon, but asked him to preserve it longer. Being an inventive guy, Tom answered their request with a whole new idea in packaging: The Gold Seal pouch, which preserves the salmon naturally, so no refrigeration is required. This innovation (for which he received a patent) made it easy for tourists traveling through the Northwest to take Tom's salmon back home, or to ship it to family and friends. From this, word spread about "the legendary flavor of the Pacific Northwest."