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Random Quote: Dad, when are they gonna start biting?
A new study conducted in 24 cities across the country by Daytona Beach News journal has found that the chances of a consumer getting the fish he or she ordered is 50-50. They are substituting Pollock for Cod.....and anything close for grouper.
Also the report claims that Vietnam and Thailand are providing half of the seafood billed as Maryland crabs..Florida shrimp..etc. Time to start questioning these restaurants when i order and pin them down before I pay for Maryland crabcakes.
Good rule- if there aren't pickups with nets or traps in the parking lot, don't order the seafood...
__________________ I am a Marine Electronics rigger. My opinons do not reflect those of my boss or anyone but me, and I am not a shill. My answers are based on 20 years of doing it for a living, and 40 years of doing it for love. your mileage may vary.
Good rule- if there aren't pickups with nets or traps in the parking lot, don't order the seafood...
the report cited fancy restaurants...crab shacks/ you name it........no restaurant is safe no matter how "fishy" it looks. Its up to the morals of the owners seems to me.
if they see a chance to double their profit with little risk of being caught.....well ..you know.
I worked in a very popular seafood resturant in Hyannis right on the water in the 70's and our seafood all came from Boston. Of course as you eat your meal while watching the draggers unload next door you would assume you were getting fish fresh off the boat. Even our clams came from maryland when we have abundant clam flats right in town.
A recent TV report ( I can't remember if this was a national report or local Atlanta report) said most of the shrimp eaten in restaurants in the U.S. (even in coastal areas like Savannah, GA) come from Asia/China.
this has almost been "cleaned up" here in Australia, for a very long time now we have had very severe penalties for substituting "cheap" Fish for a more known and expensive types, even the Country of Origin MUST be clearly displayed on the price/species ticket, and it is Policed very strongly, and indeed a few retailers and Fish/Seafood Resturants and Fish Markets have been fined considerable amounts, it very rarely goes on now, but it took a long time to clean up, the biggest "racket" was Prawns (Shrimp) substituting some Overseas crap for good Local product and crap Catfish (Basa) for better known species, but as mentioned, it is very rare now days to see it happeneing.
Having lived most of my life in MD, I can tell you that there's crabcakes and there's crabcakes. Willing to pay $15.00 + each - you can get lump crab meat with just enough filler to hold them together. Expect a whole "crabcake dinner" for $10.00 - that's a different story but "crab flavoring" or "crab byproducts" might come into play.
And even for the best crabcakes the recipies vary quite a bit.
Those in the know can tell you that crabs from different parts of the Chesapeake bay taste different because of the salinity of the area they lived in.
I was talking with Bill McCollum last Wednesday. He was saying that Florida has passed a law regarding the sale of Grouper in restaurants. It has to be the real McCoy, not a family member, or there are stiff fines. He was saying that a lot of restaurants are no longer selling grouper snce they restaurants themselves cannot tell what is grouper and what isn't.
One of the local "famous" long-time fish restaurants has their fishing vessel moored right next to their waterfront restaurant, so most folks figure that it is used to haul in their "fresh fish of the day".
Wrong.
It is there for decoration only. It hasn't seen blood on the decks in over 20 years. Their fish is trucked in from some where.
Many local seafood restaurants here in coastal Georgia who are proud to serve locally caught shrimp (which helps the local shrimpers stay in business) are now displaying plaques that state they serve "Wild Georgia Shrimp". And trust me...you can taste the difference.
I guess it is now time to start to get tough on the Reatailers, Restaurants or whatever and make sure they comply with whats is stated is what you are getting, it took a few years and a lot of hard work, but in the end, it was acheived, you would be a pretty brave man to try to pass of some Imported crap as Local or something it is not these days, but, I am sure it still goes on, but nowhere near as much as it did a few years ago, EVERY retailer of Seafood (even Supermarkets) has clearly displayed tickets with correct name and origin of species and you would be lucky to find someone cheating on this.
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