Nantucket Bay Scallops Are Back

Mr. Steve Bender is at it again, sending us Nantucket's freshest bay scallops.  We buy our scallops from him because he searches the island over to find the largest and sweetest scallops available.  The season opened November 1st and we should see a steady flow of beautiful bay scallops until the weather gets too far below freezing and the industry is shut down.  Nantucket's are known to be the sweetest scallops available and are very seasonal.  Prices this year have started out about average, but high winds have kept supply limited.  Here is a link to more information about Nantucket Bay Scallops.

What's Up With The Stones?

Where have all the stones gone? No, I'm not referring to that great rock band, I'm talking about those delicious Florida stone crab claws that we get each year from October and through the winter.  It seems as though Mick and the gang have been much more visible this past month than his crab counterparts.  Many of you are wondering what the story is and I can't blame you.

Here it is: At the beginning of this season the crabbers actually went on strike due to low prices.  Joe's Crab Shack of Florida fame buys so many claws every year that they are actually the ones who set the price at the docks.  This year the crabbers were not too happy with initial pricing, but eventually an agreement was made and they have since gotten back to work.  However, good weather for us is bad weather for crabbing.  The industry usually booms after a big storm, but there haven't been any of those recently.  Couple that with incidences of red tide and all of a sudden we have a scarcity in the market.  Right now claws are hard to come by outside the walls of Joe's and the state of Florida.  Crabs are on the move and we just can't seem to catch them.  It's sounds counterintuitive, but hopefully we'll soon see some storms.  If not, there won't be many claws to go around, and if you do find some, the price tag could cause serious sticker shock.  

Red Snapper Quota Is Working

You might start seeing more American red snapper offered during the winter months going forward.  The true American reds are renown for being one of the tastiest snapper species and also one of the more costly.  Now they will also be known for being one of the most sustainable.  I just received an update from commercial fisherman and biologist Tim Sughrue and here's what he had to say.

"In yet another shining example of a proper fishery management success story, the National Marine Fisheries Service has just increased the remaining 2013 quota for domestic Genuine American Red Snapper by one million pounds.  That makes the Total Allowable Catch (for commercial gear) 5.3 million pounds in 2013.  The additional million pounds will be added to the 2014 quota also.

Why did NMFS do this?  Well, within the National Marine Fisheries Service, there is a committee called the Science and Statistics Committee.  The committee finished a Gulf red snapper stock assessment in June.  They recommended a 21 day extension of the recreational fishery in the Gulf and a one million pound increase to the commercial catch.  This is a great example of how an overfished resource can rebound quickly under proper stewardship.  At its low point the total red snapper quota (recreational & commercial) for the Gulf was only 3 million pounds (2006).  Today, the combined total red snapper harvest is almost 11 million pounds."

I couldn't have said it better.  Here's what a properly managed fishery can do for our resources.  Enjoy red snapper now, guilt free.

Government Shutdown Affecting Crabbers

The government shutdown is not only affecting businesses within the D.C. area dramatically, it is also responsible for shutting down one of Alaska's most sustainable and notable fisheries.  The Alaskan king crab fishery was supposed to open this week, but will not due to the Fed's shutdown.  The Federal agents responsible for setting the individual quotas for the fishery, a system that enables the fishery to remain a sustainable one, are out of work due to the politically charged stoppage.  Fishermen were interviewed at the docks yesterday in Alaska and in typical maritime fashion, they had some colorful things to say.   

I don't know about you, but I simply love fresh Alaskan crab legs.  I urge that if you see any politicians out having fun this week remind them that its a short season to get these great crabs, so they need to get back to work.  In all seriousness, I hope there is a resolution soon.  Fishermen's livelihoods are at stake, many depend on the lucrative winter king crab season to get them through the rest of the year.  It's not just a running joke for The Daily Show now, people who depend on the government for employment are really beginning to feel the effects and desperately need to get back to work.  Let's hope we are able to get some fresh Alaskan crab soon.

       

Call To Expecting Moms: Try More Fish

I wanted to share an article I recently came across that calls into question whether or not the advice given to expecting Mothers on fish consumption is accurate.  Right now expecting mothers are warned against eating seafood during pregnancy by U.S. official guidelines, but research by the University of Bristol is proving that this might not be a valid concern.  The research found that fish accounted for 7 percent of the blood mercury levels in the 4,000 plus women examined in their study.  Such a small percentage posed no harmful risk to any of the women.

A Europe-wide project known as Nutrimenthe studied the affects of eating a heavy diet of oily fish on pregnant women and discovered that the fish diet resulted in better behaved and healthier children.  Oily fish had positive affects for the 18,000 children involved in the study, citing that the iodine in fish appeared to improve reading skills by age nine and that the healthy omegas aided in brain development.

I have recently posted an article about the mercury issue and the inaccuracies commonly believed by the public concerning links between seafood and mercury poisoning.  Considering the results of these latest studies combined with what we are discovering about fish and mercury content, I think it is time to review the official guidelines concerning seafood consumption, not just for pregnant women, but for everyone.  It is becoming clear that eating a healthy diet of seafood, at least three times a week, is a good idea for all of us.  With the latest evidence, I would have to recommend putting down the hamburger and trying a sardine.

    (oily fish include sardines, anchovies, mackerel, mullet, char, wild salmon, and small bluefish)

Farmed Salmon Article

The recent Washington Post article highlighted the progress that salmon farms have made in the last few years in producing salmon while reducing the negative environmental effects of the process.  I was happy to see that light was being shed into the world of aquaculture and how it's not the enemy to sustainable seafood.  If aquaculture is done right, farmed seafood can offer consumers affordable, healthy protein while taking some pressures off of wild stocks.

Though I wished the article had emphasized the importance of eating seafood such as salmon in general, I am happy that it educated the public about positive changes happening in the salmon industry, albeit briefly.  I was not ready for the backlash though, especially in the comment section, that followed.

Lets get some things straight.  Salmon farming is not a totally sustainable production at this second, but there are farms such as Verlasso, True North, and Skuna Bay that are making great strides.  Such great strides that I would be willing to bet that some farmed salmon will be rated 'green' within the next five years.  It's a pretty safe bet considering Monterey Bay Aquarium already rates Verlasso 'yellow', one step below 'green'.  Consuming conscientiously farmed salmon is good for you, and tasty according to the Post' article.  Farmed salmon should not be considered at odds with wild salmon.  Wild salmon are a great source of healthy protein and their importance to our environment should never be overlooked.  But there are only so many wild salmon that we can take out of the water sustainably.  Feeding a growing population with a growing seafood demand is a daunting task to place on a natural resource that is subject to the unforgiving cycles of nature.  There's just simply not enough wild salmon to feed everyone.  Is that not the point of setting quotas in the first place, to protect the wild stocks?  Farmed salmon should be viewed as filling in the gaps that wild salmon leave between meals and seasons, not as opposition to wild harvest.

The Washington Post article is good news for everyone, whether you eat wild salmon, farmed salmon, or no salmon.  Farming salmon is becoming a sustainable process.  Companies are finally figuring it out.  There are issues with farming salmon, but the answer is to continue to make it better, not give up.  It's just too good a protein to give up.  Consumers give a damn about the food that they eat and how the environment is affected by the processes that get it to their plate.  We the consumers have put enough pressure on big salmon companies to come up with better methods of farming, and shockingly, they are finally listening.  This is progress.  You can find faults with salmon farms still, sure.  But the fact that the farmers are listening and continuing to work on producing a better product, better for your health and the environment's, is a net positive.

          

Get The Word Out

Buying sustainable seafood has become a priority for customers nowadays, so much so that I would suggest that all seafood suppliers and most shoppers are at least familiar with at least one of the many organizations that rate seafood on sustainability.  However, with so many organizations cropping up with sustainable seafood rating systems, deciding which one (if there be just one) to trust can prove confusing.  Many of these organizations accept money from interested parties.  Some wait several years between assessments of fish stocks and fail to take into account updated information.  It can be difficult for customers buying seafood to decipher between all of these organizations and their rating systems.  Even congress has recently taken on the issue of sustainability and whether or not there should be laws and transparency requirements for selling sustainable seafood.  Who decides what is sustainable or not though is a question that causes problems in the debate.  At what point of reference should congress guide their rule of judgement?   Many shun the idea of inviting third-party organizations to the table, supposing that certain interests could interfere with judgement.  When taken to the task of developing a starting point of reference for sustainable seafood assessment, the government wisely looked into one of its own departments and found a solution that I think is a good ONE.  They tapped NOAA.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is an agency of the Department of Commerce and has a National Marine Fisheries Service arm within its organization.  The NMFS has been working on rebuilding U.S. fish stocks through collaborative efforts with fishermen and scientists for several years now and has met the challenge with much success.  Thanks to NOAA's efforts, all U.S. fisheries are now considered rebuilt or are in the rebuilding process.  NOAA is federally funded and offers unbiased assessment of all U.S. fish stocks.  The organization's research is used to determine openings, closures, and quotas for our nation's seafood harvests.  

NOAA also offers FISH WATCH for the everyday shopper concerned about the status of the domestic seafood product they are buying.  I believe Fish Watch is a terrific site to begin understanding the issues and science concerning your seafood purchases and it's usually where I start my search on sustainability issues.  Researching many sources for information is always recommended, but I suggest beginning with NOAA's Fish Watch.

There is currently an effort to bring NOAA's work to light not only on Capitol Hill, but also at the seafood counter.  It is important to buy sustainable seafood.  I believe that the more information out there that is available from credible sources, the better.  Everyone, from people that are making the laws in congress to people buying dinner for their family, should be aware and concern themselves with the issues of sourcing sustainable seafood.  The business of sustainability is becoming big business, as big as the seafood business itself.  There is a lot of information out there that benefits everyone, especially seafood customers.  I'm just suggesting that when you begin your journey reading through all the lists, systems, pamphlets, and evaluations, NOAA's Fish Watch is a terrific place to start