The Edible Ocean: The Boston Seafood Show

Members of the BRG team visited the Boston Seafood Show this past weekend courtesy of the great team at Congressional Seafood. The expanse and variety of products was breathtaking. Traversing the isles and isles of seafood booths proved a daunting task. So was finding non-frozen product.

One of Samuels and Son's Display

Importers from around the world were showing their wares, some interesting, some bizarre, but taken as a whole it was eye-opening to understand the great machination that is the seafood business. Most booths were offering glimpses of frozen-at-sea product of the highest quality. Products caught by huge vessels and processed by big companies gave one the feeling of smallness, as a pebble cast out into the vast ocean. BRG deals mostly in fresh, domestic product, and it is even more evident now than before that sadly, these items are but a tiny portion of the global seafood economy.

There were some great highlights of the show, such as the spectacular Samuels and Son seafood display. Samuels is based out of Philadelphia and was there promoting fresh products with descriptions of where and how their products are sourced. The terrific team from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources was also present to promote MD seafood, and there were also representatives from Carl's Choice Scallops, Sewansecott Oysters, Barren Island Oysters, Australis Aquaculture, Little River Crab Company, Shooting Point Oysters, Cherrystone Aqua farms, Town Dock Seafood, Chincoteague Aqua Farm, and American Mussel Harvesters, amongst other domestic purveyors.

Another highlight of the trip came in the form of an invitation from Boston Swordfish and Tuna to check out their facilities located on the waterfront. It was inspiring to see domestically caught tuna and swordfish splayed out for grading. The fish were of high quality, but the group at Boston Sword still makes sure that this fact is verified with each load. We also got a glimpse of the largest lobster tank in Boston, and possibly the east coast. It reminded me of an Olympic sized pool, but with lobsters instead of people doing the laps. The scallop room was also a treat, or should I say "untreat(ed)" due to the fact that Boston Sword specializes in truly dry scallops caught domestically and sorted by size every day. As much seafood as they process, the facility was exceptionally clean and smelled like the ocean - a very important fact when considering a seafood purveyor.

We are grateful to Congressional Seafood for inviting us to the Boston Seafood Show. It was a chance to meet some great purveyors and get a glimpse of the grand scale on which the industry operates. It's easy to fathom how big business can outgrow the ocean. There's a lot of product out there and, like I said, at BRG we are just a small pebble. Hopefully, though, just as a small pebble can make millions of ripples when cast into the water, we hope our model of supporting domestic, fresh, and sustainable seafood resonates in a swelling market.