fish report

This week we will see some fantastic fish from our various fisheries. Coho Salmon have now started along with Sockeye from Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Vermillion Snapper and Gag Grouper are being sustainably harvested in the Carolinas. Abundant line caught Striped Bass and Yellowfin Tuna are being landed off Montauk, NY. These are just some of the highlights of this wonderful season.

Michael and Sean joined 20 others sustainable seafood advocates in San Francisco last week for a meeting about the Future of Fish . Some very high powered brain-storming from these folks will likely result in real changes in the way fish get to market. Expect some significant news.

On July 19, 2010 President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a comprehensive National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts, and Great Lakes. That Executive Order adopts the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and directs Federal agencies to take the appropriate steps to implement them. Prior to this new National Ocean Policy, the United States had a regulatory jumble of more than 140 different and often conflicting laws pertaining to ocean management, all of which were overseen by more than 20 separate agencies. What this new policy enables is a first holistic vision for the health of our ocean planet.

Please join me in celebrating this really good news for the ocean.

When Bob and Mary Gosman founded Gosman’s Dock in 1943, they likely were not thinking of how Montauk’s fishing community might be in 2010. When Michael Dimin was a small boy in the 1960’s, his father took him fishing in Montauk, introducing him to “old man (Bob) Gosman”. Now two generations later grandsons Asa and Bryan Gosman are still landing beautiful fish from the eastern tip of Long Island, and are packing for our chef/partners around the country. Dayboat Striped Bass, Scallops, Fluke, Monkfish, and Porgy will be shipping this week, soon followed by Bluefish and Swordfish. (and between Boston and Washington you get to take advantage of our 10% local discount; dayboat stripers h&g, next day from the water, at the restaurant for $6.21/lb)

Seldovia Point , on the Kenai Peninsula across Kachemak Bay from Homer, has a year-round population of 286 and is home to one of the world’s great salmon runs. One can only travel there by sea or air, and we are lucky enough to have their Sockeye Salmon on the daily flight to Anchorage to meet the FedEx plane. We are now able to deliver these red beauties headed and gutted at $7.70/lb.

Spectacular fish continue to land at Beaufort, NC where David Tucker will pack 25 pound boxes of combined species.

The Wall Street Journal ran an article last week recognizing the importance of the sustainable seafood for companies both big and small. Glad they are finally catching on.

The first inkling of good news from Louisiana about possibly capping the spill is a welcome but tenuous relief. Next Monday in New York our dear friend Mary Cleaver of the Cleaver Company and Green Table is running a benefit to support Gulf fishermen . Hope to see you there.

Alaska Wild Sockeye Salmon season has now begun and the fish are running strong. Their deep red flesh is the most flavorful of the salmon species. From an opening near the Kenai River in Cook Inlet, these beautiful, live-bled and ocean-bright fish are shipping head off and gutted with a delivered price of $7.90. Also landing there are King Salmon and the price is down to $10.90 for H&G fish.

The Washington Post ran an interesting article this week featuring Sea to Table’s work with NOAA on the invasive Lionfish problem.

Worldwide awareness of the plight of wild fish increases. European fish stocks are in an unprecedentedly poor state yet fish consumption remains high. A new report highlights Europe’s increasing reliance on fish originating from external waters and, following America’s leadership, provides pointers towards a more sustainable future for dwindling global fish stocks.

Our fishermen are out catching very beautiful fish for us this week.

On Friday the owner and a manager of Profish, a prominent Washington, DC seafood distributor were convicted of multiple felony violations of the Lacy Act by trading in illegally caught Striped Bass. The Lacey Act is a federal law prohibiting individuals or corporations from transporting, selling or buying fish and wildlife harvested illegally. If we have any hope of bringing our fisheries back to where they need to be, we all must follow the rules and do the right thing.

Beginning this week, Striped Bass, whose North Atlantic populations are now strongly rebounding, are being legally and sustainably harvested by our rod and reel fishermen from Montauk, NY. The Cape Cod Striped Bass fishery is scheduled to open next week, and we hope to soon be shipping from there as well.

From Alaska’s Cook Inlet we are landing both King and Sockeye Salmon. They can ship combined with Halibut, Rockfish, Sablefish and Pacific Cod.

July 1st was the opening of Vermillion Snapper season in the Carolinas, and we should have a steady supply for the next month. These delicious fish are the only US Snappers ‘green-lighted’ sustainable by the Blue Ocean Institute. Jack Cox and the Tucker boys are landing these as well as many other beautiful fish.

The Dimins wish everyone a wonderful Fourth of July.

The NY Times Magazine ran an excellent article on the plight of the Bluefin Tuna. In spite of the efforts of many, that magnificent creature has been unable to rebound. In contrast, a story that is not getting enough press is the resurgence of the Atlantic Swordfish that not long ago was threatened. Last week the Marine Stewardship Council certified the Canadian long-line and harpoon fishery as sustainable, and the US Atlantic Wild Swordfish fishery is not far behind.

From Gosman’s dock in Montauk NY we are currently shipping a wide array of beautiful seafood, including day-boat Fluke, Monkfish. and Scallops. On Father’s Day the Dimin clan assembled at Grandpa Dimin’s house in Point Lookout, NY where we feasted on Gosman’s Scallops. They were so incredibly sweet and flavorful that we never cooked them, just ate them like apples.

Beautiful King Salmon continues from Alaska, as well as Halibut, Rockfish, Sablefish, and Ebi.

From Beaufort, NC, continue to land Pink Snapper and Gag Grouper as well as beautiful Mahi, Wahoo, Amberjack, Triggerfish and Tuna.

From the Louisiana Gulf we are still shipping U12 IQF Gulf White Shrimp, although the price is up to $11.40/lb. Louisiana fisheries continue to struggle with the crisis. No end is in sight for their troubles.

FishChoice, whose mission is to connect commercial seafood buyers with the most environmentally preferred and sustainable seafood suppliers, has recognized Sea to Table with this month’s Producer Spotlight .

Word from chefs all around the country is that the King Salmon landing in Sitka is spectacular. The current delivered price of $10.90 per pound is also the best we have seen in some time.

Very positive response to the day-boat fish from Gosman’s Dock in Montauk. The Scallops and sashmi-grade Fluke are delighting diners everywhere.

Jack Cox’s boats in Beaufort, NC are landing Pink Snapper and Gag Grouper as well as beautiful Mahi, Wahoo, Amberjack, Triggerfish and Tuna.

Support small-scale sustainable wild fisheries by buying their fish.

Michael traveled this weekend to the Smthsonian Institute’s Savoring Sustainable Seafood event in Washington, DC. Among the 30 Top Chefs was our chef/partner Barton Seaver serving ‘Lionfish Ceviche with Almonds and Endive’.

Lionfish are an invasive species with spectacular plumage and voracious appetites. First noticed in the early 1990’s they now dominating coral reefs from the Carolinas to the Southern Caribbean. Lionfish appear to only have one weakness; they are delicious to eat. For the past year Sea to Table has been working with NOAA developing an innovative program called Eat Lionfish. NOAA scientists are working hard on methods of catching these elusive fish. Creating new markets for fishing villages and clearing the reefs of this predator is a solution we want to be part of.

The epic nature of the Gulf Spill grows daily. The damage to the environment as well as the fishing communities will be generations long. We agree with our friends Carl Safina and Kate McLaughlin of the Blue Ocean Institute when they say “it’s not the Gulf oil spill, it’s the U.S. oil spill, it’s our oil spill.”

Thankfully we are blessed with beautiful seafood to ship from other fisheries.