May Seafood Update 2008
In this issue:
[Dungeness Crab] [Alaska King Crab] [Wild King Salmon] [Wild Sockeye Salmon]
[Hawaiian Seafood] [Pacific Halibut] [What’s New]
[Tom Douglas Rubs, Sauces & Marinades] [Copper River Hysteria]

With this Newsletter, we are trying on page links to get you quickly to areas of interest. The Links above will (should) (might) take you to the item your are interested in. The link below the category will bring you back to the top!

Dungeness Crab
Dungeness Crab Season is over in Washington. The next opening will be in Alaska in July. We have limited supplies of Whole Cooked Crab and adequate supplies of Dungeness Crab Clusters.

It has been several years since we were able to offer Dungeness Crab for Fathers Day. We really advise that if Dungeness Crab is on your gift list that you order early and schedule delivery for Fathers Day!

If you were ever interested in seeing how small boat Dungeness Crab fishermen catch your crab, we have added a Video to give you an idea of how this is done. When we get back to full swing in the fall, we will add videos of your crab being processed as well! [TOP]

Alaska King Crab
We are now offering Alaska King Crab Meat Packaged in 1lb Vaccum bags, our Alaska King Crab Meat features leg & body meat. This replaces our Alaska King Crab Tail Meat.

Our Super Jumbo Alaska King Crab Legs are the Biggest & Best of Alaska’s Deadliest Catch with Legs averaging over 1¼ to 2lbs each!

Remember, there are a lot of marketing superlatives out there (Giagantic, Collasal, etc); but King Crab legs are graded in size by how many legs plus a claw equals 10lbs. Our legs are graded 6-9 Legs per 10lbs, the largest commercially available size! We have added a diagram on our Alaska King Crab Page to help you understand the parts and names of a King Crab. [TOP]

Wild King Salmon
With all the media hysteria over the King Salmon closure in “The Pacific Ocean”, we would like to clear something up.

The King Salmon Runs affected by the closure are in Southern Oregon and California. In fact, of the rivers affected, only ONE actually enters the Pacific Ocean from Oregon (Rouge River), with the remainder in California.

The entire California/Souther Oregon King Salmon Fishery has accounted for less than 5% of the King Salmon harvest in the past few years. At Wild Ocean Seafoods, our King Salmon are almost exclusivly Alaska King Salmon, with the remainder (approximatly 5%) caught in the NW Washington Troll Fishery. We have some great King Salmon in 4/6oz & 7/9oz Fillets, Grill Ready 1lb Fillets and 3lb Large Party Fillets (Featured in Martha Stewart's Blueprint Magazine) for your next summer BBQ! [TOP]

Wild Sockeye Salmon

The name "sockeye" is thought to have been a corruption of the various Indian tribes' word "sukkai", which means “red”. All of our Sockeye Salmon wild caught in Alaska. The Sockeye Salmon’s bright red color is a result of it’s diet, which is very heavy in Krill (a type of shrimp-like invertebrate). Next to the King Salmon, Sockeye has the next highest Omega 3 oil content, double or triple the remaining salmon species. We put up about 300% more Sockeye Salmon last season than the year before. It will be touch & go to see if we can make it to Fathers Day. We are featuring Our Alaska Sockeye Salmon in 4/6oz, 7/9oz Fillets and Grill Ready 1lb Fillets. [TOP]

Hawaiian Seafood
Opah (Moonfish) – Opah has been unusually popular in the past month. Tightening supplies and transportation have increased the cost of this fish by 10% or so from last month. For now, we are holding the line on our prices as wee look to some relief as landings improve next month.

Opakapaka (Pink Snapper) – Opakapaka is our most popular Hawaiian Fish so far this year. Many have been introduced to Opakapaka when traveling to Hawaii. It is truly Hawaii’s most popular table snapper. We have received some very large 24-28oz fillets. If you are thinking BBQ these would be ideal for a Cedar Planked Opakapaka preparation! Visit our Recipe of the Week Section for our Plank Opakapaka Recipe.

Shutome (Swordfish) – We have changed our processing style with our Shutome to offer it Skin Off/Blood Line Out. Many people have commented on, and chefs have recommended removing the skin rind & bloodline before cooking as the outer portion of the Swordfish has a strong distict tast that tends to overshadow the rest of the swordfish. So, in an effort to make sure you get to eat what you pay for, we do the trim before you buy!

Shibi (Yellowfin Tuna) – In Hawaii, two tunas are referred to as “Ahi” , Big Eye Tuna & Yellowfin Tuna although Yellowfin has it’s own name. The Yellowfin tuna is quite a bit firmer in texture when compared to Bigeye (Ahi) and we think its flavor profile is superior. Our 4/6oz Shibi Steaks are sent thru a process called “cold smoke”. This has nothing to do with “smoking the fish", but is a process that helps retain the natural bright red color of the Shibi without the use of Carbon Monoxide. Our Shibi Loins do not go thru this process and as a resilt are more burgandy/brown in color. They both taste great and look the same when cooked. The steaks can be thawed & sliced for an excellent sashimi.

Mahi Mahi – This is another signature Hawaiian Fish and one of the few we offer as boneless & skinless. The Mahi Mahi skin is quite thin and prone to peeling & tearing during processing. This also makes the skin easy to remove without talking any meat off the fillets. We have a great recipe from our diving adventure to Truk Lagoon for Ginger Soy Glazed Mahi Mahi in our Recipe of the Week section.

Ono (Wahoo) – Over the past few months, this has become another Hawaiian Seafood favorite! It is available as 4/6oz & 7/9oz fillets as well as Loin portions. We have a great stater recipe for Pan Seared & Baked Ono that will convert to the BBQ easily in our Recipe of the Week Section. Just sear on the grill then move to an upper rack in the BBQ or onto a plank under indirect heat.

If you are new to Hawaiian Seafood, try one of our Hawaiian Seafood Samplers! [TOP]

Pacific Halibut

Halibut season is in full swing with over 6 million pounds landed so far. As the Salmon Season opens in Alaska, many of the Halibut fishermen will convert to Salmon for the summer and return to Halibut fishing in the fall. We have Halibut Fillets in 4/6oz & 7/9oz sizes. Halibut Steaks we try to keep to 8/10oz each. [TOP]

What’s New
We have just received a shipment of Bamboo Salad Spinners! We think this is a really neat item, as the bamboo base will double as a serving bowl! They are priced at $37.99 with free ground shipping.

We have made some changes in our Recipe of the Week Section. Now, If you put the recipe in the shopping cart & check out, (they are still free) you will receive a link to download a PDF file with the recipe of your choice! All 2008 Recipes are available by download. You can still just print the page from your browser if you prefer.

We have a new section called Recipe Videos. We have searched the web and our friends and neighbors kitchens to bring you delicious easy to prepare recipe videos. We will be adding videos as time and quality permit. Click on the recipe link to watch the video!

As the weather improves, we will start doing videos on the deck demonstrating some seafood grilling recipes and techniques. Don’t set your expections too high as we are not “Celebrity Chefs”. At the worst, the should be entertaining![TOP]

Tom Douglas Rubs, Sauces & Marinades
Tom’s new Teriyaki Sauces and Marinades have been a big hit since we introduced them last November. Try these out! They are great on Seafood, Ribs, Chicken and are a perfect for stir fried vegetables!

We get a lot of questions about what spice to use with what fish. So, here is a rundown on how we use them!
White Fish (Opakapaka, Mahi Mahi, Halibut, Ono, Shutome)
Blended Flavors = Bengal Masala Rub, Seafood Rub
Blended Flavors & Spicy = Peri Peri Rub, Tokyo Rub, Chinese 12 Spice Rub
Prawns & Scallops = Tokyo Rub, Seafood Rub
Crab & Lobster = Seafood Rub, Smoked Paprika, Crab Cake Mix
Red Fish (Shibi, Salmon etc.) = Salmon Rub, Tokyo Rub, Seafood Rub

Visit our Recipe of the Week section to see recipes incorporating Tom Douglas Spice Rubs. [TOP]

Copper River Hysteria
In about one week, the Annual Copper River Salmon Spectacular will be taking place. News photos of fish landing in Seattle as first class passengers, stories about $40/lb salmon etc. etc. We really have to chuckle over this for a couple reasons.
First, the “Whole Fish” less gills & guts will only yield about 65% (Sockeye) or 73% (King) in fillets.. if you know how to do this correctly. So, the “$40/lb Copper River Salmon” is closer to $60 per pound!
Second, if you buy more than you are going to eat, you will likely freeze the rest. Our vacuum packer is bigger than your vacuum packer. Our vacuum bags are commercial food grade, not on a roll.
Third, by the time your local grocery gets the fish, it is likely to be 3 to 5 days old at best.
Our Salmon is split, boned and vacuum packaged within 36 hour of catch. Generally speaking, our fish is significantly “fresher” than most “fresh fish”. [TOP]