shipping

Late Friday the Environmental Protection Agency issued a long awaited report declaring that Pebble Mine would be a ‘Big Fish Disaster’ for Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Threatening to build the world’s largest open-pit mine in the world’s largest salmon nursery has tugged at the heart-strings of fish-huggers everywhere. The Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment Report declares “mining at this scale would cause the loss of spawning and rearing habitat for multiple species” and “over the life span of a large mine, at least one or more accidents or failures could occur, potentially resulting in immediate, severe impacts on salmon”. Strong words. The report was issued in the face of political pressure from Alaska officials where the mine developers have earmarked $107 million to influence the permitting process.

The FDA also announced that all Korean fresh and frozen mussels, oysters, clams, and scallops, along with any product processed or containing them, should be removed from the US market due to concerns over Noro virus. Marion Nestle wrote this week about pink tuna slime that is commonly used in cheap sushi. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is. If you want good fish, know your fisherman.

On the good news side of the ledger, NOAA issued their annual status of the stocks report declaring 86% of US fisheries were not being overfished, and that 6 additional stocks, including Atlantic coast summer flounder and Gulf of Maine haddock, were fully rebuilt. Also this weekend is the official start to the Alaska Salmon Season with the first net opening in Copper River. We will be shipping our first sockeye on Monday to arrive Tuesday. Life is good.

While some famous chefs are controversially saying that a great meal is more important than good intention, some things are a simple matter of right and wrong. If you happen to be in NYC on this glorious Spring Sunday, please join the Sea to Table crew at New Amsterdam Market’s Gathering of the Fisheries to discuss protecting salmon up in Bristol Bay. “This is not about being anti-mining. This is about recognizing that some places are not appropriate for these sorts of industrial activities” says our friend Elizabeth Dubovsky of Save Bristol Bay. Stand up for what’s right.

Midwesterners count among their blessings a deep sense of community, family, and a special pride in how well they treat their neighbors. They do bemoan the distance to the nearest ocean and lack of access to fresh fish. The one local fish that folks in the middle of the country do enjoy is whitefish.

The Petersen family has been commercial fishing for Great Lakes Whitefish in the Muskegon, MI area since 1927. Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) is the most economically valuable freshwater species of the Great Lakes, whose exceptionally fine flavor has been extolled since the days of the early explorers. The native Anishinabe word for whitefish is Atikamig. They are net caught and harvested daily on small boats, and we will be begin shipping these 2-4 pounders, headed and gutted, this week. Captain Eric Petersen and his wife Amber Mae take great pride in the loving care they give their fish, and if you are within about 300 miles of their dock you can enjoy them next day delivered FedEx Ground with the lowest possible carbon footprint at a special local price.

Last week was a busy one. Food and Wine announced their Best New Chefs 2012, and we want to congratulate all the winners especially our friends Dan Kluger of NYC’s ABC Kitchen, and Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger of Nashville’s The Catbird Seat. We are proud to work with such fine chefs. I appeared with a dynamic panel on Heritage Radio Network to discuss the threat to the world’s greatest salmon run by the planned construction of the world’s largest open pit mine in Bristol Bay, AK. One conclusion was that the best way to save wild salmon is to eat them. Meanwhile in New England, Atlantic Cod quotas were cut dramatically, while other Gulf of Maine species populations like Hake and Saithe are thriving.

After three years of study a group of thirteen international scientist issued a report, “Little Fish, Big Impact” concluding it critical to strictly mange the harvest of forage fish to feed fish farms, especially in Maryland where blue crabs are staging a comeback.

With all the pink-slime stories making everyone take a second look at that hamburger, Nicholas Kristof reported that chickens are routinely fed arsenic, caffeine, banned antibiotics, and the active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, while in Scotland scientists have created ‘armour-plated’ salmon to combat sea lice epidemics in fish farms. Sounds delicious.

Support traditional wild fishing communities; red salmon from Alaska, whitefish from Michigan, blue crab from the Chesapeake. It’s your patriotic duty.

While fisheries management in the US has made remarkable strides in the past few years, many efforts around the world have been feeble. We all live together on one globe, and it looks like there may finally be a breakthrough in global cooperation. A powerful coalition of governments, international organizations, civil society groups and private interests are joining together under the banner of a Global Partnership for Oceans to confront widely documented problems of over-fishing, marine degradation, and habitat loss.

Announcing the move World Bank president Robert Zoellick said "Oceans are the home of an under-recognized and under-appreciated 'blue economy'. At a time when the world is looking for sources of growth, there is huge potential for 'blue growth' – wisely preserving and investing in the value of ocean ecosystems to fight poverty and improve lives." The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth's surface, yet more than 95 percent of the underwater world remains unexplored. May we explore it well.

One thing we are not doing well is shrimp. When Red Lobster offers “Endless Shrimp” we must realize that over 90% of all shrimp consumed in the US is imported. Shrimp's carbon footprint is 10 times greater than beef’s, and as journalist Taras Grescoe concludes: "The simple fact is, if you're eating cheap shrimp today, it almost certainly comes from a turbid, pesticide- and antibiotic-filled, virus-laden pond in the tropical climes of one of the world's poorest nations." Support Wild American Shrimp.

2011 was the record year for lobster landing in Maine, and our friends the Ready brothers have been shipping some beauties from Portland. Just last week a 27 pound lobster was landed off the Maine coast. Imagine a lobster the size of a 3 year old child.

Semi-finalists for the James Beard Awards were announced last week, and congratulations to all are in order. We are very proud to work closely with many of these great chefs to whom we wish the best of luck.

People in Destin, FL refer to their town as the "World's Luckiest Fishing Village".

Destin traces its history to a fisherman, Leonard Destin, who settled in Northwest Florida about 1845. For decades, he and his descendants fished and navigated the only channel passage to the Gulf of Mexico between Panama City and Pensacola, known as Destin’s East Pass. In 1879 Leonard hired a 13-year-old boy named William Marler. Captain “Billy” sailed the mail in and out of East Pass and created an informal post office. In 1904, an inquiry from Washington requested the name of the official new post office and Captain Billy responded with “Destin” in honor of his first employer. Destin remained undiscovered and pretty much an island unto itself until the mid-1930’s when the Marler Bridge was built and the world began trickling in, with Destin becoming officially incorporated in 1985.

Luck was none too good in 2000, when declining fish populations and a state ban on net fishing effectively put Destin’s 11 commercial fishing boats out of business. But due to new management practices fish populations have begun to rebound. In 2007, the National Marine Fisheries Service instituted a “catch share” program in which commercial fishermen are pre-assigned a quantity of snapper they can land, ending the free-for-all frenzy of the past. Now, red snapper numbers have more than doubled. This year’s red grouper quota was increased, and yellowfin tuna populations are up. Chatham Morgan is landing the F/V Toni Lynn each week with snapper and grouper, as is Captain Gary Jarvis and the F/V Miss Shannon with line caught yellowfin tuna. Striped mullet, an under utilized and under appreciated species, is almost always on the dock. Not only can we support the rebound of this traditional fishing community, but it is our good luck to enjoy some of the best fish anywhere.

Just down the road in sleepy Port St. Joe, the Wood family has been shrimping for five generations. Two years ago Ed Wood invested in state-of-the-art high-speed blast freezing equipment that allows Wild Florida White Shrimp IQF (individually quick frozen), both head-on and tails-only. Using the efficiencies of FedEx, we are shipping these shrimp from cold storage, using Next Day Ground within about 300 miles of either New York or Chicago at a significantly reduced carbon footprint and cost. When you taste the difference and compare the price of these crustaceans with the Asian farmed product that has flooded the market, you will be shocked- in a good way.

Although we haven’t yet won the battle against overfishing, we have turned a corner and are beginning to see many of our important stocks rebound. A remarkable milestone has been achieved with all federal fisheries having catch limits in place in time for the 2012 fishing season. “It’s something that’s arguably first in the world,” said Eric Schwaab, NOAA administrator for fisheries. “It’s a huge accomplishment for the country, and we recognize the tremendous amount of effort and sacrifice on the part of our nation’s fishermen and fishing communities to get us here”.

This week Michael will attend the TEDx conference “Changing The Way We Eat”. Our friend Michel Nischan, whose talk was the highlight of last year’s event, is honored in Food and Wine as one of 10 superstar chefs who are helping to make the world a better place. We love seeing special people get the recognition they deserve.

Cooler weather is setting in with ocean temperatures dropping. Migratory species are well on their way towards wintering grounds and colder water species are just coming alive. In preparation of this we have partnered with a dock and number of boats in the historic port of New Bedford, MA where we will be seeing landings of Scallops and Monkfish steadily through Spring.

Scallops are landing as large as U8 all the way through 20/30 sizing. Because we are buying directly off the boat and from a local dock our scallops are never "soaked" with poly tri-phosphates which inflate scallop sizing and artificially prolong shelf life through water retention. These are truly Dry Scallops with our guys on the dock ready to attest to it. And, until temperatures hits freezing, we will be seeing limited landings of local Nantucket Bay Scallops. They are a real treat.

Landing at the same dock as the Scallop boats are beautiful Monkfish. We are shipping skin-off tails and are making most of the fish with Monk Cheeks and Monk Livers to be available soon. Both will be limited in quantity so please call ahead to reserve.

States from Maine to Florida voted Wednesday to set new, strict limits on catching menhaden from coastal waters and the Chesapeake Bay, handing environmentalists and sports fishermen a major victory in how this important little fish is managed. "This is great news for jobs, for our economy and for a society that values wildlife," said Will Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Menhaden or bunker have been dubbed “The Most Important Fish in the Sea” by author H. Bruce Franklin, who wrote the definitive book on the subject. They’re a vital source of forage at various life stages for a variety of species, especially Striped Bass and Bluefish. In addition, menhaden are filter feeders important to the ecosystem. Bunkers attract predators to our waters, and are a primary food for stripers and blues. The primary exploiter of the resource has been Omega Protein Corporation who catches millions of pounds to be reduced into fish meal and oils at its factory in Reedville, Va. The company’s giant reduction boats are now banned from state waters, where most of the approximately 160,000 metric tons the company boated last year came from. "Today's vote is a welcome step for a fish that hasn't caught a break since Dwight Eisenhower was president," said Peter Baker of the Pew Group. "When this little fish disappears, big fish (and the rest of us) are in trouble."

Michael appeared last week with our friend Patrick Martins on the Heritage Radio Network to talk about shrimp. Please give us a call to talk about all kinds of beautiful seafood.