Live Soft Shell Crabs- The run is almost over in Beaufort, South Carolina. Crabbers are setting peeler pots in Wilmington, North Carolina, hoping to continue the supply of soft crabs.
Canadian Halibut- Landings are light this week because of large storms in the North Atlantic. Prices will be up slightly until things clear up.
Beautiful Domestic Sword- Lots of lovely domestic swords from Florida and Louisiana. Loins are a value at only $11.95 a pound.
Local Wild Blue Cats- Our local invasive blue cats are busy eating tons of our native Chesapeake Bay species every day. This time of year their diet switches to, almost exclusively, fish eggs. So, when our local rockfish, white perch, herring, shad, or many other anadromous species go upriver to spawn, millions of blue cats are waiting to eat their fertilized eggs. This is how they completely take over ecosystems (by repressing other species’ ability to reproduce) and why they make up 90% of the James River today, and 70% of the York, Rappahannock, and Potomac Rivers. Go on Facebook or YouTube, and you can see many blue cats in the 70-90 lb category being caught in the Potomac. Oh, by the way, these monsters never leave the Bay. They don’t migrate. All they do is eat. We will have plenty of fish to sell into June at the very least.
Atlantic Salmon- The market fell this week for the first time in a while. The embargo on fish going into Russia helped put more fish in other markets worldwide. We are back to under $9 a pound on Atlantic salmon fillets, representing a 10% drop. How long we stay here is anyone’s guess.
North Atlantic Sea Scallops- With the new season just starting, 10/20 count scallops are clearly a value at $19.95 a pound. Currently there is a $10 per pound difference between those and u/10’s.
Local Wild Rock- Big fish are from just outside West Ocean City. Prices are up because almost everyone went crabbing.
Prices are subject to change.
4/04/22