Sea Forager Seafood Turns 7! & Your Fall Coastal Update...

Photo: Sky News SF 

It may surprise you that despite the dystopian smokey skyline, covid-19 pandemic, social unrest, pre-election anxiety, wildfires, heatwaves, economic collapse and climate change, the fish are still doing their thing. More or less. Here's my take on what's going on locally this season:

 

Salmon

September brings with it the distant hope that salmon will start showing up closer to home as they move closer to the Golden Gate en route to spawning grounds on the Sacto. I say distant hope, because this year's season has been rather underwhelming. There were essentially two good weeks. And a lot of scattered fish and paltry numbers. Or confounding weeks where one boat did very well and 15 boats did terribly. Or even more confounding weeks when the boats came in too late or too early for our weekly orders. Suffice it to say, we have another month and are hoping for more salmon. That's Nico "Sharky" von Broembson F/V Golden Girl bringing in some fish from outside Half Moon Bay.

 

Albacore tuna

The sudden arrival of albacore off of Fort Bragg has at least to some extent ameliorated the paucity of salmon. I am supposed to get a big shipment in tonight and another next week. So hopefully those of you reading this will be able to partake of it.

 

Halibut 

Local hali numbers are still fairly good. Even inside the bay! But they will be moving offshore later this month and will most likely be out of hook and line depth by October. That's Adam Sewall with his daughter on the Gatherer - be sure to reach out to him if you're looking for a great charter fishing experience. https://www.gathereroutfitters.com

 

 

Rockfish

Thanks to Sean and F/V Smeagol we will have local rockfish in abundance till crab starts in November. That's the hope anyway. Looking forward to offering more of thsoe perfect for steaming 1.2 - 2.2 pounders whole.

 

Sablefish 

Sablefish is pretty much the only fillet fish available all year. And frankly the Pacific Bully has made it the go-to option for us when bad weather keeps all the smaller boats off the water. 

 

McFarland Springs Rainbow Trout

The trout farm has had a truly brutal summer. And it is imperative that we at Sea Forager keep buying their fish to keep them going. Fires in the Sierras burned a substantial portion of the farm including the hatchery(!) To those new customers who wonder why a company called Sea Forager sells farmed trout, please review the stuff on our site about them. But here's a synopsis: Fish farming is a huge problem globally because few fish farmers do it the right way.
Looking ahead to the future of seafood, the human race is going to have to come up with more sustainable methods of fish farming, plain and simple. McFarland Springs should be the banner child of the movement. They use soybean feed pellets, a closed system, and release fish waste out onto a meadow in the Sierras. The trout produced taste more like salmon than trout. And have the same if slightly higher amounts of Omega 3's. I just bring this up in case we take those trout for granted. They come in the day before delivery and are less than 24 hours out of the water when they get to your kitchen. Just sayin.

 

Shellfish

Most ND people will wonder why there's been so little shellfish this summer. There's a reason. The quality, since the virus hit, has been less than what I'm used to. Small batches have been fine because we can sort through them. Which is why clams and oysters are still on the store every week. But large orders have been absolutely brutal to sort through. I think what's happening is that demand is down (due to restaurant closures). And shellfish farms are sitting on inventory. Then I send out an order for 1,000 pounds and I get a huge shipment of mostly dead shellfish. It's also been extremely hot in various areas of the country (including here) and hot weather and shellfish do not go well together. Hopefully as fall approaches the quality will improve and we can get more butter clams, manillas, mussels and oysters.

 

Beyond that, I'm happy to announce that the crazy fishmongery adventure that I started with The Fishwife (Camilla Lombard) is now 7 years old! Holy mackerel. We're celebrating with a NEW WEBSITE, so please have a look and let me know if you like it, if there are any glaring errors, and share it with a friend.

 

Typically we'd invite you to a San Francisco bar to celebrate with beers, oysters, sea shanties and a few local fishermen, but since the world appears to be melting down around us we'll toast to the adventure from home.

If you're a member of Sea Forager CSF or just a reader of the Coastal Update, thanks for your support! In the spirit of birthday gratitude we're donating to the Fire Response Fund Grants to help those who have been affected by our local wildfires. Feel free to join us! 

 

And that will do it for now. I hope everyone is hunkering down, staying safe and not getting too freaked out by the insane end of times air quality. With any luck you can put on a mask and get outside for a bit, walk the coast and maybe even do a bit of fishing yourself. 

 

Tight lines!

Kirk-out