May 11, 2020 — Frozen fish sticks and canned salmon have made a comeback as the coronavirus crisis keeps people home, forcing a change of tack for the fishing industry that usually turns to restaurants from Paris to New York and Shanghai to serve their fresh seafood.
Fishing crews from Alaska in the United States to Zhejiang in China have been battered by lockdowns that have shut fine dining halls and fancy hotels, leaving customers to stock up from supermarkets rather than pick a platter from a table menu.
Manhattan eateries that draw in the Wall Street crowd were a major market for Jake Angelo’s razor clams, a delicacy dug from the mud along the shores of Cope Cod, Massachusetts.
But prices have hit rock bottom and shut down a vital source of income for the fisherman who has a boat named Ripped Tide.
Angelo said the whole seafood industry was on its backside, although he used much saltier language to voice his anxiety.