Columbia River King Salmon
Also known as the Chinook salmon, the Columbia River King salmon have played a major role in the livelihood of the Pacific Northwest Chinook Indians as not only a major source of food but also a spiritual and economic resource. Millions of years of evolution have gone into creating the world’s most flavorful fish, the wild Columbia River King salmon. With an oil content as high as 22 percent, it even out ranks its popular cousin from the Alaskan Copper River, which weighs in with an oil content reaching only 18 percent.
Since salmon don’t feed once they reach fresh water, they’ll spend their lives in the ocean building up energy reserves in the form of oil which is intended to sustain their treacherous journey back upstream to the spawning grounds from which their life began.
To cooks, gourmets, and fishermen alike, the salmon is the king of the waters. The distinctive color of the flesh of a salmon is part of its attraction. It can vary from a very delicate pale pink to a much deeper shade, verging on red.
Notes From Our Buyer
Next week will be the first week that sack and gallon production will be low. It would be a good idea to switch to our frozen pillow pack shucked oysters now to get ahead of the curve. The pillow pack oysters are great. You can thaw them out as you need them and do not have to worry about any spoilage. Please get with your sales rep for more information.
We will be receiving a good shipment of Wild Alaskan Coho salmon directly from Alaska. This beautiful salmon is a great addition to your feature board. Get on the bus while it lasts.
Closed areas 1 and 2 are open and producing now. Dry scallop prices are changing weekly, and wet prices will change as soon as they get some processed. Quality is outstanding!!!
Tuna is looking great this week. Prices are reasonable and quality is good!
Beautiful farm-raised Texas striped bass is a perfect sustainable option for any menu! The fish is kept below 38 degrees from the time it is harvested from the water to the time it hits your door.
Mongchong, Opah, and Barracuda
Looking for something from Hawaii??? We have a great partner over there that supplies us with fantastic fish from the Hawaiian waters.
Finger production is low right now. The heat and drought conditions have caused the crabs to not move around quite as much as before. This causes the fisherman to make fewer trips to conserve fuel and labor costs. Lump, jumbo, and claw should be fine.
Catfish continues to be tight. The drought is not helping things at all. The sizes that are the most plentiful are 3-5 and 5-7.
We are seeing more sea bass in the market, which is causing the price to come down a bit, but not enough to really notice. Hopefully with the lack of sales because of the high prices, the price will drop significantly soon. We will just have to wait and see.
Frugé has a wide variety of East Coast oysters available. We send out an availability list each week of what we have to offer. If you are not yet receiving this list, please get with your sales person and they will gladly add you to the email list.
We are seeing more halibut now with the east and west coasts both producing. Quality is great and prices are reasonable.
These East Coast treats are a great change to your feature board! With the movement of business travelers and transplants from all over, you don’t want to miss out on some great valued fish to add to your menu or feature board. We only bring in what you want, so get your pre-orders in now.
We offer a full range of sizes of live lobsters straight from Maine and Canada. Order today and we will get them to you tomorrow.
Steelhead is back and looking good!
Swordfish is a great buy right now. Catches are high and quality is good.
Trout is very tight right now. All the major farms have to let their stock grow out. Relief will be here hopefully in late September.
Mahi is still very tight, but the season will open in a couple of months. This is affecting both the fresh and frozen markets.
Prices have stabilized for the past few weeks. Hopefully we will continue to see these lower prices through the wild salmon season.
Amberjack is being caught now, but prices are high. We should see the price drop as the amount of fish being caught increases.
The grouper is looking great, plenty now and for the weekend.
Fresh and frozen tilapia have both seen price increases. The increase on the fresh is due to higher feed and fuel costs. The frozen is a combination of higher costs and flooding in Indonesia and China, where the majority of frozen tilapia is produced.
The 2-4 pound fish that everyone loves is not available right now. We hope to see some for next week.
Our redfish is farm-raised right here in Texas and is another great sustainable option for the menu. Everyone knows its name, and it is very easy to sell. It cooks up great any way!
Black Drum
This is a fantastic fish. Great blackened, fried, baked, grilled, or any way you choose. It is also great on the food cost!!!
Branzini is also known as Branzino or European sea bass. It is best served braised whole and makes an awesome presentation on the plate.