October 13, 2011 Fish List Newsletter 10/13/2011: Voices from the Waterfront
OCTOBER ON THE COAST
Fall is upon us here on the Oregon Coast. The ocean starts boiling up, the winds blow from every direction, and boats stack up like cord wood in the harbor as fishermen leave the water, jump in their trucks and head for the hills in pursuit of the mighty buck (the four-legged kind of buck, that is). It’s my favorite time of year, as the hustle and bustle of the summer winds down. Read on for updates on what’s going on with fisheries this month and what we’re featuring in the restaurant.
VOICES FROM THE WATERFRONT
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Media Center launched a video produced at Local Ocean Seafoods, with an interview of me, Laura Anderson, which coincides with the start of National Seafood Month in October 2011.?The Ocean Media Center is a high-definition video production group highlighting Voices from the Waterfront across the coastal United States. To view this three-and-a-half minute video, click here:http://youtu.be/UypT-hRqfLg or click the “Play” symbol below.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FISHERIES?
- Fresh rockfish is in from the F/V Challenge.
- Regular deliveries of Dungeness crab are coming from Alsea Bay.
- Salmon season reopened on October 1st and will stay open until the end of month.
- The tuna fleet, after a getting a late start, is looking forward to a robust fall fishery (seems as though the tuna were about a month behind the anticipated schedule). The price for tuna has never been higher – great for fishermen – and actually not so bad for consumers, as tuna have historically been one of the most undervalued species in the ocean.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE RESTAURANT?
Just for the Halibut
As you know, Local Ocean’s fish and chips is “the catch of the day” – usually lingcod, sometimes rockfish, almost never halibut. As the window for fresh fish is closing and we move into our high-quality frozen stock, we are going to actually do the unthinkable: serve halibut fish and chips!
Why this change? The last few years we were able to put up a sufficient volume of rockfish and lingcod to get us through the winter. This year, not so much. Why? Lingcod monthly landing limits were reduced to a level that made it difficult for fishermen to “pencil out” a trip and many rockfish quotas were tied to a new “catch share” program that made it difficult for us to purchase any significant volume.
What we did do is buy two boat-loads from the one-day halibut opener. That’s over 5000 pounds! We have them blast-frozen and stored whole so that when we thaw, fillet, and skin them they look, feel and taste like they just came out of the ocean.
The halibut fish and chips is available for a limited time only. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
Kind regards,
Laura A
Local O
Local Ocean Seafoods: Giving people the best seafood experience of their lives.
