Dana Bartholomew oversees sales with Ipswich Shellfish, of Massachusetts, a leading wholesale seafood processor and distributor in New England.
Bartholomew likes dogfish nuggets, lightly coated in a gluten-free, allergen-friendly crust, and is banking on college students discovering they like them, too. Two colleges are already on board in helping to make dogfish a part of the new wave in New England seafood, reports CTV News.
Dogfish is a species of shark East Coast fishermen catch millions of pounds of every year, and the fish sell for pennies a pound at the dock. The spiny Atlantic dogfish, along with scrup, jacks, mullets and many others, have long been considered as being “trash fish.”
Because of overfishing and declining fish stocks, and with some species, like the Atlantic cod moving north to colder waters, it is becoming a growing trend for the fishing industry to put more emphasis on the less traditional species that have often lacked market appeal or economic value. These fish are not the old staples most of us are used to seeing, such as cod, tuna or haddock.
“We know we have to make a great-tasting product that supports local fishermen, supports the local industry and economy,” Bartholomew said. “And it’s local — it’s right here.” And that is the one great advantage dogfish can provide to local fishermen, a way to stay in business.
The shift to other less popular species of seafood is something that the consumer is going to have to face one day soon, as the industry makes a shift to more abundant species.
Already in Florida, regulators have put an incentive on hunting the invasive lionfish which is considered a pest by many people. Yes, lionfish are edible. According to a story in Fox News, in Colombia, lionfish sell for US $2.30 a pound and their delicate fillets taste very much like sole.
The west coast’s Dungeness crab may soon have a rival as the East Coast’s lesser known Jonah crab gains in popularity. The Jonah crab is often compared to the Dungeness crab. Jonah crabs were considered “bycatch” in lobster traps, but increased fishing pressures and an increasing market demand for them has played a role in their increasing popularity.
Melissa Bouchard, chef at the popular DiMillo’s On The Water restaurant in Portland, Maine says, “We’re trying to get the focus off of cod and haddock and Northern shrimp and bring to light all these species in the Gulf of Maine that are delicious and abundant.”
The movement by the fishing industry to trash fish has its skeptics. These people are the ones that point to sustainable fish farming, claiming the market for farmed fish already has a large appeal with the public. One such skeptic is Ray Hilborn, a marine biologist with the University of Washington.
“If they truly believe that traditional species are not sustainable, then they don’t know much and have not looked very hard,” Hilborn said. “There is plenty of cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and shrimp in the world that is sustainably harvested.”
However, Azure Cygler, a fisheries specialist with the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island, says the shift to less desirable fish is necessary if we want to create sustainable fisheries and at the same time provide a cheap source of protein.
She says it is just a matter of getting people to take a chance, give the fish a try. “It’s getting that demand, and then getting fishermen to bring it in. And changing our culinary culture.”
