Happy Holidays! Tis the season for Caviar, King Crab Legs, Live Lobster, Jumbo Prawns and all the most delightful offerings of the sea. This winter brings new seafood opportunities like Nantucket Bay Scallops, Washington Dungeness Crab, Florida Stone Crab, and Alaskan Golden King Crab Legs for your holiday celebrations!
Nantucket Bay scallop season is open. This year we are seeing some nice sized bay scallops with the same excellent sweet flavor of the Nantucket Sound.
Scallop prices from New Bedford, MA are firming as the number of days at sea become limited. This is the cyclical nature of scallop regulations, Captains have a specific number of days and they become more valuable till they renew in March. The scallop market will continue to firm thru the holidays.
We are bringing in Japanese Hokkaido Scallops as an alternative to the potentially high U10 scallop prices. Hokkaido Scallops are previously frozen and all-natural. Many chefs swear by the Hokkaido to sear better than fresh scallops.
Many of our favorite east coast fish are at a premium price thru the holiday season as large city populations drive up market prices. Keep an eye out as we will have spotty availability of Wild Striped Bass, Black Seabass, Lemon Sole, and Scuba Diver Harvested Scallops for your weekend specials
Halibut from Nova Scotia will be available intermittently thru the winter. Nova Scotia does not have set open and closing dates for their fishery, they allow fisherman to catch quota throughout the year. This allows for a safer harvest of halibut, but also brings a variable quantity to port. On any given day there may not be market halibut.
An alternative to fresh Nova Scotia halibut, we will have spot availability of farmed halibut. This premium fresh halibut will be an excellent fish special for the holiday season. If no fresh is available on the market, from the farm, or if you just want to save a little money, we will have previously frozen Alaskan halibut as well.
Dungeness Crab season is taking off. We’ve got a nice selection of whole cooked Dungeness and fresh Dungeness crab meat to satisfy your craving. Dungeness crab are caught up the coast from California thru Alaska and available into the spring.
Salt Spring Mussels from British Columbia are plump and sweet. They are some of the best mussels you will ever have. The meat has an almost uni roe quality that is sweet and salty – very delicious!
Bang Island Mussels from Maine are another premium mussel that you must try! Many of our customers offer oysters from the east and west coast, maybe it’s time to offer your customers mussels from both coasts! Bang Islands are full of meat and have a rich flavor that is distinctly different than west coast Salt Spring Mussels. Give both of our premium mussels a try!
Baja Mexico fishery is catching Cabrilla Grouper aka Leopard Grouper, Hauchinango Snapper a cousin of American Red Snapper, and Yellowtail Jack. Mexican has a strong Christmas tradition of seafood, so opportunities for these fish for the holidays may be limited due to local market competition.
Hawaiian Islands are always bringing in a catch. With billfish off the market, we still have a great selection of Hawaiian fish shipped direct to Denver: #1 Tuna, Opah, Ono and Opakapaka snapper.
Florida Stone Crab Season started Oct 15th and prices have not dropped since the opening. Some fisherman blame the red tide event this summer, and others say the recent hurricanes have not helped; Whatever the reason, it’s another below average start for the Florida Stone Crab Claw season. The season closes in May, so there is still plenty of time for it all to turn around.
Chilean Seabass prices are the best they’ve been in 4 years!We have previously frozen Chilean seabass cut from whole fish or fillets. We supply only the highest quality frozen Chilean seabass to reduce the amount of weight loss upon thawing and cooking this premium fish.
Lobster prices are firming on live lobster, cold water tails,and spiny lobster tails. The only value within the Lobster market is Lobster meat.
King Crab market is firming. There is a high demand of live king crab being supplied to overseas markets creating a limited supply of value-added Legs, Broilers, Merus cuts, or Clusters. We will have Red King Crab legs and USA Golden King crab in various sizes for the holidays.
Caviar has a shelf life that is much greater than the fresh market fish Northeast Seafood is known for. If you have caviar in mind for the holiday season, please let us know well in advance so we can supply you with your favorite! We are happy to special order a specific brand of caviar, and it’s perfectly fine to order it a week in advance of your big holiday party. Our selection of caviar on hand is available online at https://northeastseafood.com/caviar/
Shrimp remains consistently priced and a good value. With many prices raising for the holidays, wild prawns should make an easy addition to the menu.
As we head into our busiest time of the year, keep in mind that we are working hard to fulfill everyone’s needs thru the growing demands of the holidays. We offer wild seafood from the ocean into the middle of the country and sometimes fisherman don’t catch, weather doesn’t cooperate, and farmers have uncontrollable supply issues. If you find yourself in a stressful situation, remember that we are here to help make your holiday season a successful one! There is always a best choice and a good alternative to sustain your menu needs.
The Northeast Seafood Family wishes you and your family a Merry holiday and Happy New Year!
Chad Pettrone
Sustainability Director
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