Saving Seafood

“Missing Redfish” Documents Blackened History of Gulf Icon

February 28, 2016 — Before the current Gulf red snapper controversy that has lasted what seems like an eternity, the Gulf of Mexico’s most hotly contested fish was red drum, or redfish. In his latest work, author Robert Fritchey brings to life the history of a recreational fishing organization that influenced fishery management and the politics of the Gulf states in a way that resulted in taking fish off Americans’ dinner plates and placing them on the hooks of private anglers.

Missing Redfish: The Blackened History of a Gulf Coast Icon ($9.99), from New Moon Press, chronicles the transformation of a universally shared source of nourishment and recreation into an engine for the consumption of goods and services related to sport fishing.

Fritchey, from Golden Meadow, LA, is the author of Wetland Riders. In his latest e-book recently released on Amazon Kindle,Barnes & Noble’s Nook Press and Apple iTunes, he documents how politics, policies and bad science and fishery management by both federal and state agencies led to the Coastal Conversation Association’s (CCA) takeover of a species gone missing years before Cajun Chef Paul Prudhomme blackened his first redfish.

“Our wildlife and fishery resources are held in public trust, which in essence means they are owned by everyone,” Fritchey told Gulf Seafood News. “When everyone has a say in how these valuable resources are to be utilized, a babel of conflicting and emotional claims arises. And in Gulf fisheries, so it has.”

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News

Pass the dogfish nuggets? Seafood industry rebrands ‘trash’

January 20, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Call them fish sticks for millennials. At any rate, Dana Bartholomew is banking on college students warming up to “Sharck Bites.”

Ipswich Shellfish, of Massachusetts, for which Bartholomew oversees sales, is offering that product — nuggets of dogfish coated in a gluten-free, allergen-friendly crust. Bartholomew, who believes so-called “trash fish” such as dogfish are part of the new wave in New England seafood, already has a couple of colleges on board.

Bartholomew’s fondness for dogfish, a species East Coast fishermen catch millions of pounds of every year that sells for just pennies at the dock, is part of a growing trend in fish markets around the country. The industry is putting more emphasis on fish that have traditionally lacked market appeal or economic value as old staples — such as cod, tuna, haddock and shrimp — decline or become the subject of tougher fishing quotas.

“We know we have to make a great-tasting product that supports local fishermen, supports the local industry and economy,” Bartholomew said. “And it’s local — it’s right here.”

New England’s traditional food fish has long been the Atlantic cod, but it has faded in the face of overfishing and environmental changes. Restaurant owners, fishermen and food processing companies said a growing shift to other species is helping to fill that void. Catch of species such as spiny dogfish, Acadian redfish and scup have all increased dramatically since 10 years ago as cod has fallen.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at CNBC

DR. RAY HILBORN: Plenty of Sustainable Seafood Options Available

December 28, 2015 — The rising trend of “trash fish,” or unusual and underutilized seafood species, on fine dining menus in New York City was discussed last week in The New York Times by Jeff Gordinier. The idea is to, “substitute salmon, tuna, shrimp and cod, much of it endangered and the product of dubious (if not destructive) fishing practices,” with less familiar species that are presumably more abundant, like “dogfish, tilefish, Acadian redfish, porgy, hake, cusk, striped black mullet.”

Changing diners’ perceptions isn’t always easy, especially about seafood, but there is certainly momentum building for more diverse seafood species. Seafood suppliers are reporting record sales of fish like porgy and hake. Chefs feel good about serving these new species because, “industrially harvested tuna, salmon and cod is destroying the environment.” A new organization, Dock-to-Dish, connects restaurants with fishermen that are catching underutilized species and these efforts are highlighted as a catalyst for this growing trash fish trend. From a culinary perspective, this trend allows chefs to sell the story of an unusual and sustainable species, which more compelling than more mainstream species like tuna, salmon or cod. From a sustainability perspective, Gordinier implies that serving a diversity of seafood species is more responsible than the mainstream few that are “industrially caught” and dominate the National Fisheries Institute list of most consumed species in America.

Comment by Ray Hilborn, University of Washington

While I applaud the desire to eat underutilized species, it seems as if the chefs interviewed don’t know much about sustainable seafood. Below are a few quotes from the article that give the impression that eating traditional species such as tuna, cod, salmon and shrimp is an environmental crime.

“Salmon, tuna, shrimp and cod, much of it endangered and the product of dubious (if not destructive) fishing practices”

“The chef Molly Mitchell, can’t imagine serving industrially harvested tuna or salmon or cod. “You can’t really eat that stuff anymore,” she said. “It’s destroying the environment.”

“Flying them halfway around the world may not count as an ecofriendly gesture, but these oceanic oddities are a far cry from being decimated the way cod has. “Hopefully they’ll try something new and not just those fishes that are overfarmed and overcaught,” said Jenni Hwang, director of marketing for the Chaya Restaurant Group.”

“A growing cadre of chefs, restaurateurs and fishmongers in New York and around the country is taking on the mission of selling wild and local fish whose populations are not threatened with extinction.”

Read the full commentary at CFOOD

 

Seafood Restaurants Cast a Wider Net for Sustainable Fish

December 22, 2015 — Michael Chernow doesn’t want people to step inside Seamore’s, his fish-fixated restaurant on the rim of Little Italy, worrying that they’re about to get a heap of science homework dumped onto the table.

“Our goal is not to say: ‘Welcome to Seamore’s School. We’re going to teach you all about sustainable fish,’” said Mr. Chernow, who is also one of the entrepreneurs behind the Meatball Shop chain.

But there is a blackboard. Labeled “Daily Landings,” it covers a wall of the restaurant, operating as a shortcut syllabus for anyone who wants to learn not only what fish are being cooked in the kitchen at Seamore’s, but also what species have been deliciously available for human consumption for centuries: dogfish, tilefish, Acadian redfish, porgy, hake, cusk, striped black mullet.

“Once they see the board, everybody gets pumped,” Mr. Chernow said. “‘Wow, look at all these fish, and I’ve never tasted them before.’”

Over the last decade or so, restaurant diners in this country have become more sophisticated about, and open to, ingredients that used to throw them for a loop: bone marrow, pork belly, sunchokes, orange wine, the ubiquitous kale.

Read the full story at The New York Times

When it comes to ‘trash fish,’ what’s in a name?

December 9, 2015 — “Trash Fish.” Would you eat it?

It’s a two-word buzz-inducing phrase that covers all the ocean’s under-loved varieties: the hake and redfish and dogfish of the world that are plentiful off New England’s coasts, yet so often ignored in this region.

The many Boston-area experts who spoke with Metro agree: for a sustainable fishery future, area diners need to broaden their palates and eat more than just the staples like haddock and cod. But is “trash fish” the title these oceanic underdogs need to make it to the mainstream?

“We wanted it to be provocative,” said Alisha Fowler of the Cambridge-based   Chefs Collaborative, which hosts “trash fish dinners” to promote the lesser-known breeds. “We’re not trying to say they’re like trash, or unworthy. But just the fact that they’re cast aside and treated like they’re not worthy.”

Provocative it has been. Since 2013, it’s caught the attention of the culinary community around the country. More than 50 chefs have led “trash fish dinners” of their own, she said. In April, the Collaborative plans to host a food summit in New York for an estimated 350 cooks, which she said will focus in part on the subject.

Read the full story from Metro

NOAA: Haddock flourish, while cod stocks dwindle

November 21, 2015 — The groundfish stock updates released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reflect what the agency says is the continuing deterioration of the Gulf of Maine cod stock, while showing that other stocks such as haddock, pollock and redfish appear to be flourishing.

The operational assessment updates were performed on 20 Northeast groundfish stocks, with the results corresponding to the state of the individual stocks through 2014.

The news for cod, according to the update, is really no news at all.

“Based on this updated assessment, the Gulf of Maine Atlantic cod stock is overfished and overfishing is occurring,” the authors of the report wrote in their executive summary.

The results show the GOM cod spawning biomass to be hovering between 4 percent and 6 percent of what is necessary to sustain a well-managed stock despite three years of Draconian cuts to cod quotas and the more recent shuttering of the Gulf of Maine to all cod fishing.

While the update’s results continue the trend of NOAA data that show the GOM cod stock near total collapse, they also continue to fly in the face of the season-long insistence by Cape Ann fishermen — commercial, recreational, fin and lobster fishermen — that they have seen more cod this season than in many years past.

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times