1. LIVE LOBSTER – The lobster market is sky high. There are a few different factors causing these outrageous prices. A major weather system is headed North towards Maine keeping all the boats tied up for the next 3 days. We still have 10 days until certain regions of Canada open for fishing. On top of all that, catches are way down. The scientists who study these kinds of things are predicting catches will be down from 110 million pounds to closer to 80 million pounds. With all that, most simply put this is a classic case of Supply & Demand. Demand is high and supply is low which leads to inevitable price hikes.
2. DOMESTIC SHRIMP – While we are well into the Gulf Season, the catch has been recorded as the second lowest within the last 17 years. A lot of vessels have left Texas waters with the attempt to make the catches worthwhile. Last report was that a lot of vessels were heading into Florida to target Pink Shrimp which will leave whites as well as brown (Green Headless) in short supply. Historically this time of the year is when shrimp prices begin to soften, however, we have seen no signs of that happening which leads us to believe that this may be the new norm.
3. SEAFOOD MONTH! October is National Seafood Month. Just in time for seafood month Congressional has a couple of great local products to offer. Rockfish season is now open in Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island prices should fall this week. Black Bass and Fluke are also open in multiple states North Carolina, Virginia, Rhode Island and New Jersey fish will become a value this week.
4. CRABMEAT – Domestic Crabmeat is in full swing and the prettiest meat of the year with good mustard and fat, we will have it until Thanksgiving. We are still about 2-3 weeks away from seeing fresh HPP Venezuelan. If you are a (True Blue) crabmeat user we need to know your winter usage so we can cover your needs until next spring. We will carry both pasteurized and Nitro frozen Maryland crabmeat throughout the winter months.
5. FRESH SHRIMP – Fresh Green tail Carolina Shrimp have grown up to 21/25 and 16/20 sizes. We stock them daily. Unless a hurricane hits in NC we should have them until the first of the year. These shrimp are caught on small day boats if you have never tried them get a few pounds and get creative they are less then 24 hours out of the water and have never been frozen and have no chemicals on them.
6. OYSTERS – Wild Oyster season kicked off last week in many states and the catch has not been good due to all the fresh water this spring. Gallons and shell stock seem to remain high. Catch limits have been cut back and they can not commercial harvest oysters on Wednesday.7. DRY SEA SCALLOPS – We are still receiving some late season day boat scallops. While our local fisherman is out of quota, we have been sourcing beautiful Day Boat scallops out of New Jersey. The count on these are averaging about 13-15 pcs per pound. This trend won’t last long so get em while they’re still around! In addition to the day boats we are still carrying sushi grade 10/20 Hokkaido scallops as well as Domestic U/8, U/10 and U/12’s all from New England waters.
8. NANTUCKET BAYS – The season for Nantucket Bays started last week with outrageous prices. While these delicacies are special, they’re not $35/lb special! At this point we are holding off on bringing in any Nantuckets until the prices come down. In the meantime, we still carry Peruvian Bays (4 lb buckets) which are very reasonably priced and quite delicious!
