(At left, Chris Hovard who discovered a 3 ft 3 inch 10+ pound lobster in the English Channel. The lobster was estimated to be over 50 years old. You don’t have to swim the channel to get decent seafood.)
I get sticker shock every time I see the Red Lobster menu and lobster is “market price,” or in other words, if you have to ask you can’t afford it. Maybe I’m spoiled as I used to live near where the lobster boats moored for the night and you could have a lobster dinner for the price of a scoops of Ben & Jerry’s. I ended up going a little crazy. I bought the biggest lobster I could find at the grocery store. all $32.97 worth. I waited until the weather was really bad and the lobster traps were all safely on the shore, then I released her. Yes, it was a “her,” I checked. Then I caught her again. I forgot to take the rubber bands off of her claws. No wonder why the release had been so easy. Somehow I thought she like a baby rhino accepting a tug from an elephant to escape quick sand and would just “know” I was trying to help her. She snapped at me anyways, or whatever is it that they do with those things. The release was eventually a success and I had the scars to prove it.
My lobster adventures are over, but I still have a taste for seafood. It is so hard to wade through all the information and find it from a good source. I get so disheartened with all of the salmon and shrimp at the super market that comes out of Asia. You can still get fresh seafood shipped, I have found. In fact, there are a few sources that offer sustainably caught seafood and the price either is only slightly higher or matches conventional seafood at the supermarket.
What is sustainable? The fish or shellfish caught is the species targeted. There are no “bycatches,” such as dolphins, turtles caught in nets. Fish species that the fisher is not seeking also is not caught either. This prevents areas from being overfished and allows species to thrive. Sustainable fishing also does not rely on fish farms, which can be a breeding ground for disease as the fish are raised and live in man-made pools. Dead fish do not get decomposed naturally by the ecosystem. Fish do not become hardy, with only the strongest living to mate. Natural selection that protects fish from passing down disease does not occur. Those big fish that live a zillion years and are more prone to mercury issues, such as swordfish, are not caught by sustainable seafood merchants.
Where do you find sustainable seafood, such as Oregon pink salad shrimp, albacore caught with fishing poles in Hawaii and Canada, Skip Jack tuna and more, when you buy seafood online. Skip jack is a small tuna with a shorter lifespan that you may enjoy without mercury worries. So, it won’t make you sick, and it certainly nothing will grab your fingers or toes in mouths or pinschers.
Have you purchased seafood online or did you find a source, like an organic store that carries it? If so, tell me what you think!
(At left: A lifetime supply for me, a week's worth for my brother.)
