Florida

New Year’s Day may be the beginning of the new calendar year, but for fishermen around the country May Day is when things really get started. From Cape Cod to the Carolinas, along the Florida Panhandle, from Neah Bay to Bristol Bay, boats have been readied, nets have been mended, and fish cutters have sharpened their knives for the start of the new fishing year. Winter always feels especially long in the fish world, and as fishing season opens we’re looking forward to the new fish that warmer waters bring and the delicious dishes our chef partners are bound to cook up with what’s landing at the docks.

In the Northeast, May 1 marks the day when squid, black sea bass, fluke, scup, and bluefish quotas open back up for commercial fishermen. In the Chesapeake, blue crab season has been open for weeks, but things really get going when the waters warm up. Down in Beaufort, NC, grouper season has opened, and fisherman David Tucker tells us, “It’s getting ready to bust loose here with pinks, cobia, groupers, amberjack, mahi and wahoo.”  Salmon season is just around the corner, and the trolled king salmon have already picked up, with some starting to make their way to the rivers of the Olympic Peninsula.

Every season has its good aspects, but there’s no beating the time of year when the sun is shining and the fish are biting. Enjoy every moment.

We never get sick of shrimp. Though shrimp is a ubiquitous offering in restaurants, there is much more to shrimp than the unsustainable, and often flavorless, farmed shrimp found on most menus. In fact, there are over 300 species of shrimp around the world, and some of our favorite, more unique varieties are available.



Shrimper John Van Hyning knows the waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound like the back of his hand. From early spring through the beginning of August, Captain John goes out for sidestripe shrimp on his boat the F/V New Wave. Others have tried their hand at sidestripe shrimping, but no one knows the water like John does, and he catches the best specimens of these shrimp that the Japanese refer to as “amaebi” for their incredibly sweet flavor. They’re beloved among Alaskans and mainlanders alike, and these “sugar shrimp” are available frozen and saltwater-packed until the fresh season starts in April.

Across the Gulf of Alaska in the port of Sitka, fisherman John Bahrt has been packing out spot prawns. John Bahrt has been fishing since he was seven years-old, and he catches spot prawns on his boat the F/V Kristina with pots, limiting bycatch and environmental impact. The deep, cold Alaskan waters make the prawns fatty, succulent, and creamy, with a meatier flavor than the more delicate sidestripe. Many chefs claim spot prawns as their favorite crustacean.

In another Gulf, the Wood family is landing Royal Red shrimp down on the Florida Panhandle. Shrimping for Royal Reds is hard work, with shrimpers going 40-60 miles offshore and dropping their trawls 200 fathoms down in the strongest currents of the Gulf. The deep, cold waters where Royal Reds swim give them a pronounced, sweet flavor that some compare to lobster. The season is brief, and we’re savoring them while we can. Meanwhile classic wild white and pink shrimp continue to land, available both with heads and without.



Whether swimming in saltwater or fresh, warm water or cold, there’s one thing that all shrimp have in common: there’s just no comparing the taste of wild shrimp to farmed. With Sea to Table’s direct model cutting many links from the supply chain, chefs can now enjoy these incredible creatures at competitive prices. Wild shrimp are as varied in flavor as the regions from where they come, and it’s worth getting to know every one. 

Among all the ways to celebrate the holidays, we can't help but be partial to the Mediterranean tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a seafood-centric dinner that takes place on Christmas Eve. Where we come from, any celebration is a good excuse to eat fish, and so come Christmastime we make a point to get in touch with our Italian side.

It's easy to eat fish, but not always easy to know what fish to choose, so we're offering up recommendations for a sustainable seafood feast. We planned this meal with special consideration for the hard-working independent fishermen that brave the seas to bring us our fish, and so each of our choices represents a fishing community worthy of our support and recognition.

Our hope this holiday season is that whether you're preparing a multi-course meal or a humble supper, sustainable and traceable seafood becomes a staple in your kitchen.

1) Atlantic Pollock from Portland, Maine

Though Atlantic Cod has seen hard times, there's plenty of sustainable species still swimming in the Gulf of Maine. One is Atlantic Pollock. A close cousin of Cod, our fisherman friend Terry Alexanderdescribes it as "a good eatin' fish." Best of all, this under-appreciated species drives profit back to traditional New England fishing communities.

2) Squid from Point Judith, Rhode Island

We love a good calamari, but why fry up the tasteless imported squid proliferating the marketplace when you could eat local? Frying up a sustainably managed fresh squid from the waterfront village of the Port of Galilee is a surefire way to rediscover a classic dish.

3) Blue Crab from Cambridge, Maryland

J.M. Clayton is the oldest working crab house in the country. During blue crab season, the fifth-generation family business picks thousands of pounds of crabs bought directly from Chesapeake watermen. No one does it better, and we wouldn't imagine getting our crab elsewhere.

4) Mahi-Mahi from Beaufort, North Carolina

Rapid growing and fast breeding, Atlantic mahi-mahi in many ways epitomizes the perfect sustainable fish. They're abundant along the East Coast, especially in the Mid-Atlantic off of North Carolina's Cape Hatteras, where the Labrador and Gulf Stream currents converge to create a wall of water that's ideal for fishing.

5) Gulf White Shrimp from Port St. Joe, Florida

Wild-caught domestic shrimp gets our vote for the fifth course of our fishy feast. Gulf Shrimp is unmatched in sweet, briny flavor and caught sustainably using special by-catch reduction devices. We especially favor the shrimp landing at Wood's Fisheries in Port St. Joe, Florida, a thriving family-run dock that welcomes the Gulf's best shrimping vessels.

6) American Red Snapper from Destin, Florida

American Red Snapper is one of our favorite fishery comeback stories. A mere decade ago the Gulf fishing community was in trouble due to poorly managed fish stocks and an influx of imported seafood. Now the fishery is sustainably managed using individual fishing quotas (IFQs), and Florida fisherman land abundant American Red Snapper four or five days a week.

7) Pacific Cod from Homer, Alaska

A sustainable alternative to Atlantic Cod on the east coast, Alaska's thriving Pacific Cod fishery is among the best managed in the world. Fishermen harvest Pacific Cod with pots, a method with zero by-catch that does no harm to the sea floor. That's a fish worth eating.

A new Consumer Reports investigation of pork found that a whopping 69% of tested meat contained one or more potentially harmful bacteria, some of which showed signs of antibiotic resistance. The overwhelming majority of the bacteria found in the samples was resistant to at least one form of antibiotic - ranging from 63% of the Enterococcus to 93% of the Staphylococcus aureus. The same frightening issues that plague industrial meat production also plague aquaculture.

90% of all shrimp consumed in the US comes from outside the US, and most imported shrimp is grown in filth ponds flooded with antibiotics. Unless you are extremely vigilant, the shrimp your guests ingest is likely to be antibiotic-infused. Your guests deserve better.

Whether talking about pastured pork, heirloom squash, or farmstead cheese, good chefs make good product sing. Wild Florida White Shrimp are animals with amazing flavor and meaty texture that only comes from shrimp being allowed to live like shrimp: wild and free. You can't farm that.

Our partners, the Wood family, have been in the shrimping business since 1860 and are the second largest employer in Port St. Joe, FL after the school district. On our last visit to Wood's Fisheries, Ed Wood spoke about the difference between farmed and wild shrimp. "If I'm going to bring shrimp home with me for dinner, I always pick the bag of wild shrimp. There's just no comparing the taste between farmed and wild shrimp -- and I even own a shrimp farm." Wild shrimp get their flavor from what they eat, and the unique ecosystem of a wild shrimp's habitat influences its flavor. Wood’s Reese Antley even claims that he can taste a difference in the flavor of a shrimp depending on the depth of ocean it lived in- the deeper the water, the sweeter the shrimp. Like wine, oysters, or cheese, wild shrimp have terroir, and just as you wouldn't assume a bottle of Two Buck Chuck to have the flavor profile of an aged Burgundy, you can't assume farmed shrimp to match the flavor of wild. Wild shrimp just tastes better.

Mainers really love lobstah and so do we. This year, we partnered with Portland Captain Curt Brown of the F/V Lil More Tail to put up a limited lobster program of beautiful 6-8oz tails and picked knuckle and claw meat. Brown, who has been fishing commercially since he was 15, harvests these hard shells from rocky bottoms in frigid waters off the coast of Maine. The cold water and rough terrain come together to produce strong lobsters that are full of sweet succulent meat. Roast them, grill them, poach them, throw them in the oven covered in ritz crackers and butter and eat them in the privacy of your living room. We won't judge; just don't miss them.

As our worlds get smaller the impact that we have on one another grows. Chefs have the power to support independent producers, preserve traditional communities and protect amazing product. Choices made by a chef in Minneapolis, Dallas or DC has a direct effect on a fisherman in Portland, Port St. Joe or Sitka. Let's keep our fishermen out on the water for you.

Congressional Republicans are lining up against the possibility that the Environmental Protection Agency would block the proposed pebble mine. California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, the House oversight committee chairman, and Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, say the EPA doesn't have authority to pre-emptively veto permits.

Could agribusiness giants Cargill and Monsanto be behind this with their big push, selling genetically-modified (GMO) soy product as salmon farm fish feed? They best be careful as the same group of attorneys that successfully sued Big Tobacco have set their sights on Big Food. Meanwhile PBS’s Frontline featured the threat to Bristol Bay’s wild sockeye salmon culture by the pebble mine. If only the salmon could speak for themselves.

Last week we paid a visit to shrimpers and fishermen on the Florida Panhandle. The Wood family started fishing there in 1860, and Grandpa Wood decided to try his hand at shrimping in 1950. Now Ed Wood directs a company that is the second largest employer in Port St. Joe, after the school district. You can still find his father, Buddy, at Wood's Fisheries 7 days a week, maintaining their state-of-the-art IQF freezing equipment. Shrimpers in the Gulf haven't had it easy in the past several years, a fact Wood contributes primarily to the influx of farmed shrimp from Asia. Just as the American wild shrimp industry started bouncing back, the BP oil spill happened. But Ed is looking to the future, and he buys only the highest quality wild shrimp, frozen at sea and untouched by preservatives or additives. "Ultimately," says Wood, "you have to consider the human component of sustainability as well as the environmental." One shrimp boat captain attested, "Ed supported me when I didn't even have shoes on my feet." Now his boat, the F/V Patricia Lee, is considered one of the finest shrimping vessels on the Gulf.

In Destin, we visited another family-run business, Harbor Docks. The Morgan family started Harbor Docks restaurant in 1979. A few years later, they opened a wholesale seafood market next door as a way to ensure that the restaurant gets the freshest fish possible. Boats land at the dock downstairs and the fish gets carried up to the restaurant as soon as it's cut and cleaned. It doesn't get fresher than that, but we're lucky enough to work with this group of Destin fishermen to deliver their catch next day from the dock. We went out king mackerel fishing on the F/V Hey Baby, watched boats unload, and helped Chief, Harbor Dock's oldest fish cutter, pack boxes of snapper and mullet. Not a bad way to spend a summer afternoon.