Here's a little more history on the "whities". Like all fish, some are better tasting than others, and this holds true for the whites also. For those of us who cook fish by appearance rather than just time, it's harder to "see" the change in the flesh as it cooks. So there's a tendency to overcook the flesh because it doesn't change from dark orange to light orange when it's cooked.

Now the myth about the fishmongers. For a long time, the commercial fisherman couldn't get a decent price (or no price sometimes) for white's, so they sometimes just kept them for themselves (incidental catches). After many years, word got out that the skippers kept the white's for themselves...so some people thought that the white's were the "best" eating because it was the captians choice, rather than necessity (no market to sell to). Then the price and popularitywent through the roof (late 70's) because of this rumor. Also the restaurants jumped on the bandwagon because they could still buy it cheaper (for awhile) then red kings. So this was mainly a marketing move...ala "copper river kings".

I hope this helps. Personally, I like reds better, but only because they're easier to cook. I've also seen the flesh striped. I caught a bunch of kings at Campbell River a few years ago and 60% were either whities or they had striped flesh. Kinda funny looking.