What we do with our salmon is more correctly called kippering, or hot smoked. The fish is cooked in the process of smoking it. Afterwards we either vac pac and freeze, or pressure cook it in cans or jars to preserve, as hot smoked fish has no shelf life to speak of. Whereas when it's truly cold smoked, it can be stored at room temp like beef jerky. The native folks(and also some friends of mine) do a true cold smoke and dry the fish. When done right, it is excellent. Takes some experience to get it right, along with dedication, as it can take several days. I take the lazy way, and hot smoke! 
As for brine, I like a very simple formula of 2 cups brown sugar and 1 cup kosher salt for every gallon of ice cold water. Brine for an hour and a half. Rinse in cold water, and then air dry to form the pellicle.
Jeff
What Jeff said...^^^
I started smoking salmon in the early 1980's when I lived in Alaska. Everyone I knew there had a "little chief" smoker that got heavy use when the salmon were running. The local hardware store would lay in huge amounts of wood chips for summer. I sometimes had three smokers going at the same time when they opened the Kenai River to dip-netting. The "little chief" is a hot smoke process, smoke and heat. I use a dry brine cure for my salmon,(coarse sea salt and brown sugar) which takes 8 hrs., then washing and air drying to let a pellicle form before smoking. I bought a Bradley Smoker years ago and retired the Little Chiefs, and use a cold smoke attachment with an AMAZN tube and wood pellets. I vacuum pack and freeze, and also pressure can in half pint and pint jars for shipping to various locations.
