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February 28, 2011

The Current Salmon and Seafood Situation…

In the last 3 weeks, the world seems to be cockeyed; from oil prices to uprisings in the Middle East. Farm Raised Salmon also seems to be completely out of whack from the way we have known it at this same time.

The reasons for this are many. Among them are the US dollar has sunk in the last few weeks largely because of the Middle East turmoil and the price of oil. Consequently, European Salmon from Norway and Scotland has risen in price in terms of the US dollar.

In addition, the change of generation, which happens every six months in farmed raised Atlantic Salmon is now taking place. This means the fish are smaller at the beginning of the generation. Most salmon farmers harvest a set amount of fish per week in order to have fish every week for cash flow reasons if nothing else. The average weight is usually 14 pounds for Atlantic salmon from Norway and Scotland, but we are now seeing 10 pound averages and this is adding to the short supply. If they target 100.000 fish per week as a harvest they are now getting 1,000,000 pounds of fish instead of 1,400,000 pounds of fish per harvest week.

This scenario is also taking place in the Maritime Provence of Canada and the Pacific NW. Basically all northern hemisphere generations of Atlantic salmon change at about the same time.

It is our opinion that the cost spikes are because of the producers (mainly in Eastern Canada) are price gouging and taking advantage of the shortage. We have seen their prices rise over a dollar a pound in the last 2 ½ weeks as the larger European salmon disappeared from the market.

Chile is slowly coming on line with production but the loss of 75% of their biomass due to ISA will take some time to recover. Their prices are following suit with the other producers and they are also taking the opportunity to increase their price on the little supply that they have to offer after their disastrous losses.

Quite frankly we suspect a lot of collusion in pricing and we are staying on top of the situation. We expect to see prices start to come down in about 6 weeks when salmon grows larger with the warmer weather and more producers in Chile come back into the U.S. market.

For now we have enough Salmon on hand but at much higher prices than we have ever seen. The sizes may be different than what everyone likes and whole fish and fillets will be smaller and more expensive. We will have a variety of Scottish, Norwegian, Chilean and Canadian Salmon this week.

With the rise in prices of fuel, we are hoping that it does not deter the consumers from buying in grocery stores and eating out. Transportation for all proteins, especially seafood that needs to flown into the USA, will be affected by the oil prices. Corn, wheat, and soybeans are also rising along with world demand as well as for ethanol use as oil becomes more expensive. These items make up a large percentage of the feed for all farmed land and sea creatures from Cattle to Tilapia and Catfish.

Because of this, we have sought out some special, reasonably priced, items for our customers in the coming weeks.

First and foremost, out of Louisiana, we started to see a nice run of Large Black Drum. These will be very reasonably prices under $7.95/lb. for fillets averaging 2-5 pounds from a Day Boat Fishery.

In addition, we have lowered the price of Mid-Atlantic Flounder even though the season is about over in North Carolina. It is our understanding that the season in Virginia will commence shortly and this should be a good item to use with frequency over the next 45 days.

One of the greatest under used fish from the Gulf of Maine is North Atlantic Pollack. This fish is about the size of Haddock and perfect for any sauté that you may want. It is very mild and very flaky with good flavor. A bit darker than Cod and Haddock and with more oil content, a lot of people think it has a beautiful ocean taste. One of the latest winners of a seafood cooking contest won a best dish award with a pecan crusted Pollack.

We are also starting to see more Alaskan Day Boat Cod come into the marketplace as the weather in Alaska moderates at very reasonable prices and we expect to see this continue until the end of April.

In addition out of Alaska there is a Fresh Golden King Crab season starting and we will have a limited supply of large 1.5 & up King Crab clusters at prices less expensive than frozen this week. Be sure to pre-order and the best deal is when you order the 25 pound master cases straight from the fishing grounds. We expect a Tuesday arrival which means a delivery for the next day.

This coming week we will see a good supply of Swordfish at fairly good prices as well as Amberjack that is being caught by Hook and Line fishermen from the Florida Keys to Myrtle Beach.

Because of our extensive portioning programs, we have 3-4 oz portions of Mahi, Grouper, Swordfish, Tuna and occasionally Sea Bass and Halibut at reduced prices daily! Check with your sales person for daily availability. The smaller 3oz avg. portions make a great addition for lunches or a 2-piece portion at a great price.


Right now is peak time for quality of Oysters and Mussels. Oysters are a great item to feature on menus, especially Shucked Select Oysters from the South and the mid Atlantic. They are at their saltiest and plumpest because the water has been so cold and this leads to great flavor. Prices have come down as well. Southern Shucked Oysters are about half the price from last summer. They have come back on line and the resource is very clean, very safe and quite tasty!


Mussels from PEI are at their peak right now with the highest meat-to-shell ratio of the year. Very reasonably priced and perfect for all recipes.

Lobster prices look like they will remain constant for the next week or so. The great news is that when we did inventory in Maine this weekend we found that some mislabeled packages from December production on lobster meat and they were actually Lobster Jumbo Lump! It is of course frozen and this product will go very quickly so put your orders in early to ensure your supply.


On the non-seafood front…

Over the next 4-5 days, we will publish the first of our March Madness Specials. We will feature close-outs for some seafood items, some prepared items from the freezer and run some insane specials to give you, Our Customer, a break when you most need it. We will be running a weekly special from Springer Mountain on All-Natural, Hormone –Free Chicken featuring a different cut each week for March. We are also speaking with our Pork, Lamb and Veal producers about doing the same.

This Week’s Feature…

5 Pound Gallons of Shucked Select Oysters









Shucked in Codeine, Alabama and Wilmington, North Carolina!