fishmonger

Japan is set to test the consumers reaction to raw swordfish in place of bluefin. I for one have seen too many swordfish and the organisms that live inside them to ever contemplate swordfish sushi . And without debating, wasn't swordfish the recent poster child of giving fish a break. The second brilliant plan many have is to farm or ranch tuna. Most of the problems here involves either taking juvenile fish from the wild or the huge amount of forage fish that are required to feed these carnivores.

Two young students using simple dna testing techniques are shining the light again on the growing problem of mislabeled seafood. Everyone in the seafood business should be outraged as consumers and I am at the deception of a few bad purveyors and retailers. Not only is it wrong to mislead the consumers, but this leads to a wider range of problems. These problems range from unfair trade to species depletion from bad catch reporting. Read the article in the NY Times. So I want to personally thank these two intrepid sleuths. Here are a few ways to assure you are getting the fish you pay for (without DNA testing). Know your fishmonger. Buy whole fish, not fillet. If the price is to good to be true, it probably is. A similar article also appears in the Canadian Globe and Mail .

Zagat says yes . Consumers have had information at their disposal for a few years now about the fish they purchase in retail stores. This was helped along by some legislation C.O.O.L (country of origin labeling) that took effect in 2004. This law only applies to retail stores and excludes prepared fish. So basically every restaurant is exempt from any reporting. One still must be careful and dine at trusted restaurants, because some misleading information is out there like the Florida grouper debacle that had numerous species filling in for the states favorite fish in a bun.

If I haven't been looking for tuna these past weeks I have been fielding questions from my customers about the scarcity of said tuna. The perfect storm? While it seems that no single event has caused this supply problem a few combined may have made this inevitable. Mostly the evidence I present is purely anecdotal, so your comments are welcome. Fuel prices: The rise in the dock prices of diesel have forced a hard decision upon some of the tuna boats. Faced with the possibility of filling up the tanks and returning to port with less than a full hold of fish many fishermen choose to stay in port longer and cut their losses. Moon cycle; The current position of the moon and the effect it has on pelagic fish, as well as the bait fish it feeds upon makes finding large amounts of Tuna difficult. Last month many Asian countries announced what amounts to a nearly 40% reduction in the size of their fleets. They did not however make plans to reduce consumption. China comes on strong: Could ...

Red Grouper( Epinephelus morio ) This morning I received an interesting offer sheet from one of my suppliers. The offer was to purchase a new item they will be carrying. The item a fish called emperer ( lethrinus lentjan ), sold as a frozen CO2 treated fillet. This is one of the many fish that made it's way to the tables of restaurants under the guise of grouper. I applaud the efforts to legitimize grouper sales. Last October following reports in the Saint Petersburg Times and a full blown investigation by the Florida Department Of Agriculture I wrote: If you live in Florida, or have vacationed there you would know that the Grouper Sandwich is the default State meal. From Gainesville to Key West you would have a hard time not finding the ubiquitous selection on the menu of most restaurants. Fried, blackened or grilled millions have been served to locals and unsuspecting tourists alike. The big dirty secret is finally out in the open. The chances that the sandwich you or anyone else...