fishmonger

I woke up and read an article in AM New York "How sustainable is your seafood?" that I was interviewed for. Overall a pretty fair take on the difficulties of the topic. I really liked the fact that they included so many good quotes from Kate McLaughlin of the Blue Ocean Institute. Not many people have such a good understanding of all the factors that go into rating the different species. (full disclosure; I have worked with Kate and the Blue Ocean Institute in establishing our signage system at our retail stores.) There is no one size fits all, the best thing is to get to know your fishmonger, and determine if they can be a reliable source of information.

Hello Chefs and Buyers, We hope you had a great weekend. The fishermen in Florida certainly did. This morning we received a great mixed shipment of fish and shellfish from the sunshine state. Starting off the list is mahi-mahi, the fish are weighing in around 12-15lbs headed and gutted and still showing off their iridescent yellow coloring that earned them the Spanish name dorado maveriko or 'golden maverick'. Speaking of Spanish, we also have sushi quality Spanish mackerel, these fish are around 2lbs each. Red grouper is available, these firm fish with the big white flake would make a great special if not already on your menu. We have a very limited quantity of a very special fish called trigger fish, also from Florida. Trigger fish is a cousin of the blackfish (tautog), and hog snapper, and a member of the wrasse family. Like their cousins these fish feed on shellfish and crustaceans. This diet imparts a very sweet quality to the meat and combined with the...

We have a really nice mix of specials for the weekend. One or more sure to fit your menu needs. The quality of fresh shrimp from Florida has been great all year, but todays shipment seems to be even more firm and sweet. And at these prices you cannot go wrong. Size is 16/20 per pound. And this is just the tip of Florida's bounty because we also have stone crab claws , black grouper and available Tuesday we are taking orders for diver caught live spiny lobster. Just landed at JFK this morning and only hours out of the water we have three specials from Iceland. Big sustainable Arctic char are here, they are running 4 to 6 pounds and we have a few hundred pounds. Get your order in early to get these bigger fish. Dayboat Icelandic cod is available as well as halibut from this island nation. We are always excited to get this shipment and the fish never disappoints us. This country's respect for the sea shows in their fish. Jersey boats are starting to produce an...

Now here is todays seafood news: We will be getting our direct Portuguese sardines that are always great and growing in popularity, thanks for the support. We also have some nice larger sized rouget they are running 1 to 2 per pound, and should have a good yield. We just got in a nice short trip Jersey boat with huge bloody monkfish, and technicolor golden tilefish (3-7 lbs each). Both are limited to a hundred or so pounds. Black sea bass finally made an appearance today so we have a small amount of mostly jumbo sized black sea bass for Thursday. Onaga came in like baseball bats, if you haven't tried this fish yet you will be not be disappointed. Wild striped bass had a few additional limited openings and along with Maryland we now have tagged fish from the PRFC (Potomac River Fisheries Commission), and VMRC (Virginia Marine Resource Commission). We hope the additional fish will start to bring prices down over the weekend. The National Restaurant Associ...

Hi Chefs and Buyers, Halibut continues to be very tight, so please order ahead if possible. We are getting a good mix of wild Icelandic, and farmed Norwegian fish. Both are stellar in rigor and fat halibut. Size range for these fish are in the 5lb to 20lb range. Our Australian shipment arrived today with beautiful hiramasa, and onaga and we still have a small amount of opah. The cold waters of the North Atlantic have blessed us with the winters sweetness in the form of Nantucket Bay scallops and Maine shrimp (many still have roe attached). Our friend Rod Taylor is also sending us his live Taylor Bay scallops in the shell, they are the same species as Nantucket and Rod actually supplies much of the seed to replenish the wild bays. Swordfish continues to run strong and we have some big fish from the African coast that came with our #1 Tuna. From Florida we have a fresh Octopus that is trap caught along with Stone Crab. Striped bass from Maryland continues to r...

Just released by the National Restaurant Association "What's Hot in 2010; Chef survey" shows that local and sustainable seafood are high on the list of important issues for chefs. Here is a brief look at where seafood ranks: Top 20 Trends #2. Locally sourced meats and seafood #3. Sustainability #10. Sustainable seafood #18. Non-traditional fish (e.g. branzino, Arctic char,barramundi) Top Trends by Category Main Dishes / Center of the Plate #1. Locally sourced meats and seafood #3. Sustainable seafood #4. Non-traditional fish (e.g. branzino, Arctic char,barramundi) Breakfast / Brunch #4. Seafood breakfast items (e.g. smoked salmon, oysters, crab cake) Culinary Themes #1. Sustainability All data has been collected from www.restaurant.org/foodtrends For additional information see the Nation Restaurant Association website or Seafood Source .

Since it has been some time since my last post, and I have been neglectful with only sporadic information being shared I submit to you a list of things I should have written about. Ocean Acidification Jeremy Piven Mercury misgivings Bluefin Tuna depletion and politicking Greenpeace retail rankings and rants The TV show about Sword fishing Pollack and Hoki in crisis Lower than expected wild salmon catches (again) Economic factors in the seafood industry (hint it is the most expensive protein). Seals eating salmon, and sharks eating seals. Giant squid reports ( more than a few) Jellyfish More species misrepresentations. Various Seafood Festivals Water offsets in Aquaculture et al With apologies, Matt

Wild caught has become the end all bucolic catch phrase for some seafood consumers and chefs alike. Although there is a vast amount of information about seafood sustainability in general and aquaculture specifically many simple gloss over the findings. In day to day talks with chefs and consumers I have noticed this tendency of people to lean toward wild and shun farmed seafood. I wonder why that is? The same person hardly bats an eye in purchasing other commodities like beef, pork, and chicken that have long been removed from the wild. Even the most organic and free range chicken is still vastly dissimilar to a wild bird. I have eaten pheasant, wild duck, and even crow and I doubt that those wild animals could support consumer demand for wild poultry. So why should we believe that wild seafood can continue to support an ever growing demand. Is our taste for these species so strong that we must fish them until supply teeters on the edge of deletion? What we need is a kind of paradigm s...

Wild Artic Char comes tonight! The fish was featured in yesterday's New York Times and is hand caught by the Inuit Tribes in CA. Limited supply. Watch out for slight price increases in Cod, Sword, Wild Stp Bass, and Fluke. Weather is affecting the landings out there as whitecaps and wind prevent guys from going out. Right now the increases are weak, but could continue into next week. Onaga is in house today. The fish are running 2-4lbs and looking stunning. They are caught off of Hawaii and are sushi quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFz9h_hin-8 Wahoo is in from Florida, we have one fish available, 35lbs Softshells are coming down in price, WhiteBait is available, and the Escolar is looking great Blackfish is in house, fish came in covered still in slime and rigor, Tile fish is running pristine and it is the Gray variety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWPzGalENrY Wild Kings will not be available tomorrow, but we will have Wild Sockeye and Wild Steelhead available Scal...

Wednesday November 12th was the second evening hosted by Wild Edibles to promote sustainable seafood. Sustainable After Hours is an opportunity for concerned New York Chefs to have questions answered by experts and producers of seafood. The special guests for the night included Kate McLaughlin Seafood Program Director from the Blue Ocean Institute, Jim Michaels Program Manager Mote Sturgeon Research Project, and Karen Rivera Founding Member Noank Aquaculture Cooperative. All the guests made brief speeches followed by personal conversations with some of the cities best chefs. I personally cannot help but think the impact that these small gatherings will have on the choices we all make when procuring the fruits of our fragile oceans. For those of you who attended, thanks for coming and having the conversation. I encourage anyone in the industry to continue the conversation and to reach out to your suppliers, and friends. Chef Paul Jambor of Wild Edibles Oyster Bar with the always tasty ...

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.