Springing into April and May with nice warm weather, colorful green grass, blooming trees and flowers – it’s the best time of year in Colorado. Earth Day is Friday April 22nd and we have a huge variety of sustainable seafood to choose from. Passover starts on the 23rd and we will have a selection of Gifilte fish for those celebrating the Jewish festival ending on Orthodox Easter, May 1st. Mother’s Day weekend, May 8th, will be a great weekend for the restaurant business, try our snow crab cocktail claws as a garnish to your bloody mary specials.
Soft Shell Crab season is here! We are bringing in fresh dressed Chesapeake Bay soft shell blue crab in Prime and Jumbo sizes now, and will continue to bring a variety of live and dressed soft shells as the season moves into the summer months. Live Soft shell crab are very delicate this time of year. We are firm believers that the dressed soft shell crabs have a much better flavor and shelf life than the live soft shells, but we’ll bring in both and you can try them for yourselves!
As the weather warms we start to move into BBQ season and we’ve got some nice big fish for the grill, and at great prices! *California Seabass season will be picking up as the weather warms. We will see large 10-20# fish with a firm white meat that brings a nice contrast in color and flavor with grill marks. *Yellowtail jack can be another great white meat for the grill. Availability of yellowtail Jack can be inconsistent, but spring and into summer we’ll see fish from California, Baja Mexico, and Gulf of Mexico to bring us a good supply. *Swordfish prices remain low as supplies are plentiful with fish from Mid-Atlantic, Carolina’s, West Coast, Gulf of Mexico, and Hawaii.
Alaskan Halibut Season is full throttle consistently catching 10-20 # and 20-40# fish available H&G or Fillet. Prices for this white succulent flakey fish have been coming down and are very reasonable. California Halibut coming in 5-8 # and 8-15#. Prices are lower on the California Halibut but supplies are limited. Cali Hal flesh is more of a pink hue when raw but cooks white and flakey just like the Alaskan Halibut. In order to maintain a sustainable Cal Hal fishery we have to limit our supply and only use what the fishery can produce. Alaskan Halibut is a much larger fishery that can maintain a total allowable catch that will produce a consistent supply with a foreseeable season ending in November. Either choice will be a delicious and sustainable choice.
Wild Salmon Season is gearing up! Oregon opened their troll season, but pacific salmon are not ready to come in yet from their ocean journeys. Columbia River splits the states of Washington and Oregon and can produce a supplemental stock of King Salmon that can be caught year round. Of the few fish that have been caught recently, prices are very high. When salmon start to come in from the Pacific Ocean and prices become reasonable, we will have a troll King Salmon from Washington or Oregon.
Copper River Sockeye and King Salmon will start in the middle of May. We’ll have some great media to share with you from this fishery that is known for kicking off the wild salmon season. Please like us on Facebook to see this information as it becomes available. Copper River sockeye are known for their bright red flesh and meaty salmon flavor that many customers have come to look forward to each year. The king salmon from this fishery can also have a red-orange hue that must come from the shrimp diet that salmon are known to eat. It’s also important to note that each wild fish is different and some king salmon can have orange flesh, some bright red flesh, and other will have white flesh – these are known as ivory kings. If you are interested in Ivory Kings, please let us know. These fish are unique and known to Alaskans as a delicacy.
Walleye from the great lakes should be plentiful from now till mid-June when waters warm. Walleye is often used as the best fish option for a Passover Gifilte fish. We will be bringing in as much we can to help customers keep up with the demands. We may also bring in some whitefish from the great lakes if available. Walleye are known to be a difficult fish to catch, and supply is never a guarantee with the wiley walleye.
Farmed salmon from Chile, Canada, and Scottland prices are up and should stay high thru the summer. Our premium salmon brands have not been effected by the Chilean salmon crisis and remain consistent in supply and price. Another option to consider as a substitute is Arctic Char. We have Arctic Char raised in a closed circulating aquaculture systems in Iceland. This is a very sustainable way of farming fish and the quality and consistency of Arctic Char is phenomenal.
This is a great time of year for seafood!
Enjoy!
Chad Pettrone
Sustainability Director
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