Pacific Seafood Group

Clackamas, OR, United States

A wide-ranging member of the tuna family, albacore roam tropical and temperate waters throughout the world. Smaller albacore are mostly canned, while the larger fish are either frozen or sold fresh. Worldwide, more than 200, 000 metric tons of albacore are caught each year, making albacore the third most valuable tuna resource after yellowfin and skipjack. Big albacore from Hawaii and the South Pacific, where it is called tombo, has very pink, almost red meat. As a rule, fresh tombo loins are available for about $2lb. less than yellowfin ahi or bigeye ahi loins. Think of it as ahi, but at a bargain price.

How good is Dungeness? Lets just say that its Julia Childs favorite crab. Named after Dungeness Bay in Washington state on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Dungeness is a seafood staple on the West Coast. These days, though, the secrets out and sweet-tasting Dungeness can be found on menus from New York to Shanghai. Dungeness are found only in the eastern North Pacific, ranging from Alaskas Aleutian Islands to Southern California. Dungeness are in greatest abundance off the coasts of northern California, Oregon and Washington. The ocean fishery off these states produces about 70% of the North American Dungeness harvest each year. Most Dungeness are landed from December through February, when the crabs are actively feeding after molting. Generally, meat yields will improve as the season progresses. Typically, Dungeness prices are at their lowest point of the year in December, when landings are at their peak shortly after the season opens. Other significant Dungeness fisheries take place in Puget Sound in the inside waters of Washington state, Southeast Alaska and British Columbia. Dungeness harvests normally follow a 7-year cycle of abundance, ranging from a low of about 15, 000 tons to a high of almost 30, 000 tons.

Widely distributed in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, snow crab is the crab that keeps the crab houses cranking and the retail cash registers ringing. The name snow crab is a marketing name for Chinoecetes opilio, a species that is found in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. The largest commercial fisheries for snow crab are in the winter off Alaska and in the summer off Newfoundland. In Alaska, both Chinoecetes opilio and the larger C. bairdi, which is fished only off Alaska, are called tanner crab on the fishing grounds. In Canada, snow crab are also called queen crab.

Think of Alaska pollock as the fish that doesnt get any respect. Almost everybody eats it, but hardly anybody knows it. Pollock are the favorite fish of fast-food fryers, which serve it up as fish n chips, fish sandwiches and now even fish tacos. And, of course, pollock are the stuff of surimi, the ubiquitous fish paste that is used to make seafood analogs, the ersatz shellfish products that look and taste a lot like the real thing at a fraction of the price. Alaska pollock is the largest food fish resource in the world.

Known to many consumers as Maine lobster, this popular shellfish (Homarus americanus) has been a major resource throughout New England and Atlantic Canada since Colonial times. Today, thanks to careful handling and sophisticated shipping techniques, American lobster is enjoyed from Boston to Beijing. American lobster are found from North Carolina to Labrador, with Maine and Nova Scotia typically being the biggest producers. Two related species are found throughout Europe and off the coast of Norway.

Its not quite chicken of the sea, but its getting close. Atlantic salmon are now farmed around the world, from Australia to Norway, Chile to China. And fish farmers are getting very good at it. Since 1990, they have cut their production costs almost in half, taking a fish that was once served only in the most expensive restaurants to seafood cases around Europe, North America and Asia. The U.S. appetite for farmed Atlantic salmon has grown rapidly. Between 1990 and 1999 U.S. farmed Atlantic consumption has grown from less than 25, 000 tons to about 150, 000 tons.

The clam business used to be pretty simple. On the West Coast, there were Manilas and that was about it. Back east, there were hard shells and soft shells. And, of course, there were those big surf clams and ocean quahogs which were sliced and diced for chowders and breaded strips. These days, though, as our appetite for this bivalve mollusk has grown, clams have gotten a lot more complicated. Now we have golden necks, Venus clams, cockles and more. Heres a look at the world of clams. Surf clams and ocean quahogs, which are processed for use in chowders and breaded strips, are our biggest clam resource by far, producing annual harvests of about 90 million pounds per year (meat weight). These clams are dredged off the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts. The foot of the Stimpson surf clam, a species caught off the Canadian Maritimes, is a delicacy in Japan and China, where it is called hokkigai and served as sushi.

Although its the second most widely consumed shellfish in the world, squid is still a relative newcomer to American seafood cuisine. Still, squid is definitely catching on. Since 1990, U.S. squid imports have soared from 13, 000 metric tons to more than 40, 000 tons. But since the name squid still makes people squeamish, we prefer to call it calamarithe Italian name for squid. More than 2 million metric tons of squid are landed throughout the world. Although almost a hundred species of squid are fished commercially, two species, the Japanese flying squid and the Argentine shortfin squid, account for over half the world harvest. Squid are molluscs, just like clams, mussels and oysters. The difference is squid have an internal shell, which is called a pen. Voracious feeders, squid eat up to 14% of their body weight a day in small fish and other squid.

Although theyre smaller than most warmwater shrimp and account for a similarly sized percentage of global shrimp landings, coldwater or Pandalid shrimp are highly regarded for their affordability, versatility and above all, clean, sweet flavor. On a salad, in a shrimp roll or even as whole cooked peel n eats, they offer an excellent alternative that has more flavor than their warmwater cousins. The worlds total catch of coldwater shrimp has been increasing in recent years; the leading producers are Canada, Greenland, Norway and the United States. Found in the cold waters off northern North America and Northern Europe, coldwater shrimp catches are dominated by two species, Pandalus jordani and Pandalus borealis.