Valentine’s Day Fishing Report

February 12, 2010

Valentine’s Day is on everyone’s minds in the foodservice industry so we are sending this report earlier than usual. We have a lot of outstanding all natural proteins for your weekend menus. Please place your orders as soon as possible to ensure you will receive everything you need. We have great deals for you.

Amberjack from Cape Fear, NC
Day Boat Fish from Wilmington, NC
Mahi Mahi from Ecuador and Costa Rica – prices are slightly up, but still very reasonable
Farmed Cobia from Belize – excellent quality and good prices; we expect a new shipment on Thursday
Cod from the Northeast – boats have pulled in from the last storm so quality is good and prices are decent
Alaskan Cod PBO Fillet is coming in almost daily and is a great buy!
Fresh Skate Wings are plentiful and excellent quality.
Flounder from Virginia is great quality, prices are up, but still a bargain
Grouper – the closure in the Gulf starts on February 15 and it includes fish landed in Mexico. Prices should begin to fall all week and we should have Grouper available with very inexpensive prices all weekend.
Petrale Sole from Oregon is on special for $5.99/lb on fillets for sizes 4+ and above.
Tuna is plentiful and inexpensive right now. The Chinese New Year falls on Valentine’s Day this year, February 14. 2010 is the year of the Tiger. A lot of the boats that fish for Tuna throughout the world are manned by people of Asian descent who celebrate this holiday. Boats are coming in to port for their New Year therefore Tuna is a great buy to feature on your menus this weekend. You should be aware Tuna will be tight and expensive two weeks from now.

Seafood Starting with an S

Salmon prices are up all over the world due to the problem in Chile. Worldwide farmed salmon is down 5-7% from last year’s production. That being said, we have ample supplies of whole Canadian fish from Eastern Canada. We also have Scottish Salmon and, as we’ve told you before, we consider Scottish Salmon to be the richest and fattiest of all Salmon. We have Norwegian Fillets that were processed pre-rigor. We also have a small amount of 2-3 and 3-4 Chilean Salmon Fillets. Add to that our ultra premium all natural organic Loch Duart 11/13 organic Salmon and Martin’s International EU certified Salmon from Scotland, you can see we have salmon covered for you.
In addition to our Salmon offerings we have what we consider to be the best of all Salmonoids, Chilean Steelhead and Icelandic Arctic Char Fillets. We will only speculate on a limited amount of Char so if you want to feature Artic Char this weekend let us know before noon on the 10th (Wednesday).
Swordfish is still expensive. We should see increased landings as a by-catch from Tuna fishing. We believe the market will trend downward. The quality we’re seeing in domestic product is the best we’ve seen in years.
Snapper is pricey now from every region we buy them. We have some genuine Gulf Red Snapper in 2-4 thru 15pounders, but that will set you back a pretty penny. Dotted Snappers in 2-4 and 4+ are also coming in from Costa Rica and other Central American locals. The most reasonably priced Snappers are Yellowtail Snapper from Mexico and Honduras as well as small Mutton Snapper in 1-2 and 2-4 sizes.
Scallops are very expensive. We are attaching an article that explains the fishery management issues that affect prices so you can read the info yourself. You will discover why the days of plentiful U/10 and U/12’s are behind us. Prices are up on all good quality dry Scallops so if you are quoted a price that seems too good to be true just remember we warned you so Buyer Beware!
We have good supplies of FAS Sea Bass from Chile as well as farmed Sea Bass from Greece, a.k.a. Loupe de Mer.
The real bargain in fish that begin with an S is Wild Striped Bass from Virginia and North Carolina. They are coming out of 38 degree water so you know they are top quality. We are, of course, assuming they can fish in the mid Atlantic with the rough weather that is anticipated. Prices have fallen on Wild Striped Bass so we lowered our prices today on large fish.

Please call your sales rep to place your order.

404-350-5850 Atlanta 800-883-3474

205-252-0344 Birmingham 888-271-3474

704-332-3474 Charlotte 800-926-3474

504-821-4500 New Orleans 888-821-1916