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We purchase seafood from fishing ports and aquaculture farms all over the world.  As part of our efforts to ensure sustainable seafood for generations to come, we are an active lobbyist for the conservation and management of our seafood resources.  This report is a guide to help you in your buying decisions and to keep you informed regarding the current market.

February 16, 2012

February 16, 2012

After the hopefully busy Valentine’s festivities, we are now looking at Fat Tuesday next week and the beginning of Lent. This is the traditional season for seafood and prices generally go up, at least for the first 2 weeks of Lent. We will give you an idea about what we think will be available and what is going on around the world.

Starting in the Gulf of Mexico, we are starting to see more fish show up.

In Louisiana… 

We are beginning to see more Drum, Crawfish and Crawfish Tailmeat but because of the Mardi Gras celebration next week things will come to a screeching halt until next weekend and the week afterwards. If you have an order for these items, please let us know by today or tomorrow. 

We should also have some good landings of Swordfish and Tuna. Prices are still very high and will probably stay that way.

If you are not aware, there is a world-wide shortage of Tuna. Prices, even on canned Tuna, are expected to double over the next year. The reason is because the Tuna are not where they normally are and the fishermen cannot find them. Catches worldwide are down 30%. Some say that it is because of the unrestrained purse seine catch method of small fish in the Asian Western Pacific and they have been catching the young for too many years. Therefore there is not enough biomass to regenerate the Tuna population to recent levels. Others say it is because of the massive earthquake around Japan that has changed the ocean bottom and the currents so the Tuna have moved.

This shortage, along with the demand skyrocketing in the Asia with the newly emerged middle-class in countries such as India, China and the other smaller Asian countries, is spiking price. Even CO treated Tuna steaks and Saku blocks are really high right now.  Itsumo Tuna is also costing more so expect an increase there and with other Tuna prices from around the world.

We are also seeing good catches of Red Snapper, especially in the Northern Gulf.

Some supplies of Pompano and Redfish are also coming from the Gulf.

Black and Red Grouper are also showing up more and we are expecting prices to go up as Mexico starts its conservation through March 15th when they are not allowed to fish for Grouper in the most productive areas off of Progresso. Prices will be stable for the first 10 days of the closure and then we will see prices go up through the last week of March.

Moving into Florida…

We will see some Amberjack and Yellowtail, as well as, some Stone Crabs showing up as the weather gets warmer.

On the Atlantic side, there is some Tilefish landing as well as some Shark.

In the mid-Atlantic…

In the Carolinas, Flounder remains plentiful and will probably stay that way with good prices through this month and next.

There will be some supply of Triggerfish but B-liners supply off of the Carolina coast will soon end as that fishery closes sometime this month.

Striped Bass will probably inch up in price but will be available for the next month or so.

Black Bass will be expensive, but there will be some.

We are going to see some Shad Roe. It is very expensive right now but there is some around.   Please speak with your sales person about it.

People who fish Swordfish should be coming in any day so we should have a good supply, but again prices will remain strong.

Into the Northeast…

Traditionally prices skyrocket for the beginning of Lent, as we mentioned, and we expect that to be the case for Cod, Haddock and all of the by-catch fish like Skate, Monk, and Hake.

On the West Coast…

We are seeing nice quantities of Alaskan Cod come into the marketplace. Hopefully the weather will stabilize for the boats to get out and continue to fish. At this time, the catch is 45% down from last year.

Landings are coming in with some Dover Sole with a little bit of Petrale and we are looking to bring in Rockfish fillet which is a terrific, medium-priced fish, for the next couple of weeks.

For imports…

We are seeing some Gulf Red Snapper and Red and Black Grouper coming in from Mexico this week along with Speckled trout. (Please see our notation about Grouper in the section on the Gulf fish)

Normally, the beginning of Lent means that prices increase on seafood from Central and South America because of the high Catholic population giving up meat, but as one supplier said, “I can’t see prices going up a lot more than they already are!”

Expect prices to increase on Dotted Snapper and especially on imported Grouper, Corvina and even Farmed Cobia.

On the Farmed front…

Salmon traditionally goes up this time of year, although the market is down. Scottish Salmon is going to be higher next week.

Chilean Salmon demand has increased and we expect prices to increase slightly on that.

We are also bringing in fish from Scotland and Western Canada.

In addition, we have the Norwegian Salmon Trout which has been a big hit and we are increasing our supply. As with all Salmon, prices are a bit up.

We expect things to settle down in a few weeks as more salmon comes into the Chilean market during Lent.

We will also see good supplies of Tilapia but prices are a little up.

We will have some Farmed European Turbot from Spain as well as Loup de Mer from Greece.

We still have availability of Arctic Char and a good availability of Trout from all over Central and South America.

Shellfish…

There should be plenty; it is a good time of year for all shellfish including Oysters. Again we would like to remind you about pre-ordering Oysters as we are trying to manage our supply and waste.

Our Fresh Columbian Imported Crabmeat has been a great hit. We will have another shipment on Monday and intend to bring this in over the next 2-3 months and expand the pasteurized program. If you have not tried this great Blue Crab meat (the same as the domestic crab), you really need to look at it.

We are hoping to hold the prices steady on crabmeat.

As is normal this time of year, Scallops will probably go up a little.

Fresh Shrimp is virtually non-existent. 

On the Foraged front …

It seems like the severe weather in Europe is ending the Truffle season so we only have 1 more shipment coming in next week and that will most likely be it for the year. Prices will be up on that as well.

For other mushrooms, we are seeing a good supply of Black Trumpet, Hedgehogs and Yellowfoots coming in right now.

For the Land Lovers …

We have a huge order from Painted Hills Beef coming in over the weekend and we will be in good shape on Monday with all cuts.

We are also getting daily Portioned Beef through our Premium Angus and Meats by Linz programs.

We are increasing our supply of Springer Mountain Chicken as well.

Thank you and we hope everyone had a terrific and successful Valentine’s Day and look forward to the Lent season.



Past Market Updates: