1. SHARKS ATTACKING SHRIMP BOATS IN NORTH CAROLINA !!! There are so many sharks in the coastal waters off of North Carolina, they are regularly attacking the shrimp trawlers’ nets, causing the fishermen to quit shrimping. So imagine you are trawling for shrimp in the ocean and you can tell your net has a few hundred pounds of live shrimp in it and BANG a school of sharks tears a hole in the net wide open eating the shrimp as they escape from the net leaving you with nothing to show (except a torn net) for hours of work !!!
2. ORCA SIGHTING OFF P-TOWN MASSACHUSETTS !!! – A rare sighting of an ATLANTIC Orca whale (swimming with some porpoises) last week by some harpoon fishermen looking to “stick” some Bluefins 60 miles east of Provincetown Massachusetts. Orcas are one of the smartest animals in the sea and are feared by everything including Great Whites ! Orcas can kill Great Whites easily and they love to eat Great White livers- they also have been known to “corral” and slaughter 300 to 500 lb bluefins – I read an account of a school of bluefins trapped in a harbor with Orcas patrolling the entrance to the harbor. When the Orcas attacked, it took three days of tides for all the blood to wash out of the harbor.
3. MASSACHUSETTS JUMBO ROCK SEASON STARTS TODAY !!! The much anticipated start to the commercial hook & line season for wild striped bass (rockfish we call them down here) starts today June 24 and runs until the roughly 800,000 lb quota is caught. They will only be allowed to fish a couple days a week and only be allowed to bring in 10 fish per boat. With those restrictions in place, there won’t be a “slug” of fish that hits the market and crashes it. Fillets will start out around $15 and we will see what happens from there.
4. DEL PACIFICO SUSTAINABLE WILD CAUGHT MEXICAN SHRIMP IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST !! Think your shrimp is good ? Well then “man-up” and take the Del Pacifico taste test. Hint: you are going to lose – Seriously, this once frozen shrimp is Fair Trade Certified and gives 5% of total revenues back to the communities around Mazatalan Mexico. Del Pacifico shrimp are caught with “panga” boats (1400 small boats), using an artisanal technique that uses wind and tides to drift a mid-water column net called a suripera. This technique has the lowest bycatch and fuel consumption per pound in the world. But the flavor and texture is what will blow you away. Come meet them at our Finvitational this September 23. Currently we stock 16/20’s and 10/15’s. Try them – you will not be disappointed.
5. LOCAL CAPTAIN RACHEL DEAN HAS BEAUTIFUL HOOK & LINE WILD ROCKFISH !!!- while recreational fishing off Love Point one evening last week, I pulled up to one of my favorite fishing spots, the Love Point Lighthouse, and I was only yards away from another boat that was using live spot for bait and had three to four fish on all the time. They (2 ladies & 2 men) were putting a serious hurt on lots of fish so I asked if I could buy them all. She (Rachel) said “of course !” The fish are iced alive and stiff as a board (rigor mortis). We will have her fish this week and hopefully all summer or until she runs out of quota !!
6. VENEZUELA RUNNING OUT OF GAS – We are getting enough fresh meat to cover orders each week (barely) but the situation in Venezuela, if you can believe it, seems to be getting worse. There is not enough gas in the country to put fuel in the crab boats or diesel to run the generators at the picking plants. Prices are still just below the domestic market and will remain there. Just the airfreight alone to get to the US (via Panama) is approaching $4 per pound.
7. WILD KING SALMON HALFWAY REASONABLY PRICED – Nice 11/18 lb fish from Wrangell Alaska and the Stikine River – Red King fillets under $15 !!!
8. RED TIDES UP NORTH (New England) MAKING FRYAR CLAMS MORE EXPENSIVE – just in time for the 4th of July and peak demand on this item – gallons now $125
9. LOTS AND LOTS OF SOUTH ATLANTIC SWORDFISH – this is a great time of year to promote swordfish. It is value priced at under $10 for large loins. The fish we get from Brazil are “double and triple markers” (200-400 lb fish !) – meat quality is stellar – try some today
10. LOTS OF HARD CRABS – VERY FEW SOFT CRABS – It is a great time to have a crab feast but a bad time to try and find some soft crabs. The vast majority of the crab population is hard right now as well as fishing effort for peelers is down because most crabbers are potting for hard crabs. We will keep you all informed of any peeler runs that pop up
11. MOST OF CANADA GETTING READY TO CLOSE ON LOBSTERS – this coming Sunday, June 30th, marks the end of spring lobster season in most areas of Canada. Not to worry, there are millions of pounds (20M) in “tubes” all over Nova Scotia – meanwhile back in the US, all eyes are on the catch in Maine. Lobsters come “inshore” to shed and get caught in the traps. The catch is nothing to speak of so far.
