Copper River Wild Salmon Season Opens This Week!
The 2013 Copper River wild salmon season opens on Thursday, May 16! We’re looking forward to our first shipments of kings and sockeyes; we’ll let you know when we expect them to arrive…
Copper River has a projected catch of 1.3 million sockeye and 19,800 kings this summer – will you be enjoying some of this responsibly harvested and delicious wild salmon?
Take advantage of the media frenzy that accompanies this highly anticipated opener! “Copper River” is a name your customers recognize, and they’ll be excited to see this seasonal treat on your menu. If you’re planning on carrying this fish throughout the spring and summer, check out this handy webpage from the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association that can help potential diners find Copper River salmon at your restaurant.
Let us know how you’re planning to feature Copper River King and Sockeye Salmon this year!
Patagonian Prawns Now Available!
Our first shipment of Patagonian Prawns (Pleoticus muelleri) has just arrived! These amazing, wild-caught shrimp (also known as Argentine Red Shrimp) are harvested from the ice-cold unpolluted waters of the Southern Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Argentina. Thanks to the nutrient rich diet available in their pristine natural habitat, Patagonian Prawns are bursting with flavor! They also have amazing color thanks to their healthy and natural lifestyle…
We’re bringing in head-on,13/15 ct. Patagonia Prawns for those of you looking for a unique, wild-caught shrimp to add to your spring and summer menus. Another nice feature of this particular product is that the shrimp are individually quick frozen which makes them easy to use (and gentle on your food cost). Just thaw what you need! Or, save even more time and cook from frozen. Patagonian Prawns come 6/4.4 lb. boxes to a case.
We’re the only game in town with this particular option, so check in with your Santa Monica Seafood Sales Representative today!
If you’re looking for some ideas from other chefs across the country, connect with our Patagonia Prawn supplier on Twitter – they’re more than happy to help you spread the word once you add these great shrimp to your menu (and so are we)!
Oysters & Wine, BFF’s!
We love oysters, and we love wine… what could be better than an annual competition that combines the two?
The Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition judges work hard each year to select an elite group of West Coast wines that can be reliably recommended as good “oyster wines”. What makes a good oyster wine, you ask? According to the Pacific Oyster wine team it’s “a narrow band of wine styles and characteristics work well with oysters, a vibrant combination of sweetness (glycogen), minerals and the sea.” They list a variety of “oyster wine” characteristics that past judges have identified, including (but not limited to)
- “Dry as bone, clean as a whistle.”
- “Doesn’t get in the way of the next oyster.”
- “Citric or mineral undercurrent.”
- “Dry, crisp, clean finishing.”
and our favorite,
- “Makes you want to eat more oysters.”
so after tasting hundreds of wines (each carefully paired with a freshly shucked Kumomoto oyster) these long-suffering judges have recently selected this year’s crop of Oyster Wines!
Here are the 2013 “Oyster Award” winners (listed alphabetically)
- Cedergreen Cellars 2011 Sauvignon Blanc (WA)
- Chateau Ste. Michele 2012 Sauvignon Blanc (WA)
- Dry Creek Vineyards 2012 Dry Chenin Blanc (CA)
- Geyser Peak Winery 2012 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
- Knude Family Estates 2012 Sauvingnon Blanc (CA)
- Long Meadow Ranch Winery 2012 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
- Three Pears 2012 Pinot Grigio (CA)
- Trefethen Family Vineyards 2011 Dry Riesling (CA)
- Vinoce Vineyards 2012 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
- Willamette Valley Vineyards 2011 Pinot Gris (OR)
Whatever you’re drinking our pouring, we’ve got plenty of oysters ready for you, including a new crop of delicious Coromandels that just came in from New Zealand! Give your Santa Monica Seafood rep a call today and see what other tasty oysters are in today’s inventory. Cheers!
Aphrodite’s Favorite Fish
Have you tried our newest Mediterranean Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) option yet? Responsibly raised in the Bay of Limassol, on the beautiful island of Cyprus, this delicious bream comes from a mythically important region known as Levantina.
You may not remember the story of Aphrodite from your high school Greek mythology class, so let us give you a quick refresher… Aprhrodite, the Goddess of Love, was the only God or Goddess technically not “born”; she was created from the rather grisly death of Uranus (Father of the Gods) and sort of just rose from some sea foam (tip for all you molecular gastronomers out there aphros means “sea foam” in greek – use that on your next tasting menu!). Here’s the key – where did she rise from the sea foam? Cyprus!
Not only is Cyprus the home of Aphrodite, but as you can imagine, it is a place of pure waters and strong currents. A perfect place to raise Sea Bream. We’re bringing in Levantine Sea Bream from one of the oldest fish farms in the Mediterranean, a family run farm that has worked long and hard to not only produce fish with superior flavor, but to do so with minimal impact on the surrounding environment.
The Bream are raised with plenty of room to grow, low stocking densities mean healthy, happy fish. Raised on all natural feed and given no antibiotics, hormones or growth promoters.
The best part? This is an absolutely delicious fish that works well in any culinary application you can dream of. Don’t do anything – serve it raw with minimal accompaniments and let its clean, fresh flavor shine through. Bream’s rosy white meat pairs beautifully with light spring vegetables – Chefs Matt Borbon and Eric Bauer from Rancho Valencia prepared Sashimi of Sea Bream with Chino Peas, Bagna Vert and Raw Asparagus Salad for a recent Chef’s Luncheon and it was very well received. Bake it, roast it, grill it – whatever you decide to do with whole bream or fillets, you and your customers will appreciate both the history and the bright future of this delicious import!
Let your Santa Monica Seafood Sales Representative know you’re ready to try some Levantina Sea Bream today!
California King Salmon Season Opens May 1
The 2013 California commercial salmon fishing season opens tomorrow (May 1) and will continue through October 15.
According to Aaron Newman, Chairman of the California Salmon Council,
“2013 is predicted to be a good year for California Kings. California has traditionally been the leading producing state for troll-caught (hook-and-line) wild king salmon along the Pacific Coast. We’re projected to catch 3 million pounds this season, which is an increase over last year’s 2.5 million pounds.”
We are looking forward to getting our first shipment of this delicious local option. Responsibly harvested, King Salmon are the largest of the 5 commercially harvested salmon and some say, the most delicious. King salmon have a high oil content, robust flavor and deep coloring. Additionally, they contain high levels of naturally occurring Omega-3 fatty acids that offer heart-protective attributes.
Get ready to add some California King Salmon to your menu – we’ll let you know when they get here!
San Diego Chef’s Luncheon a Delicious Success!
Chefs Matt Borbon and Eric Bauer and the rest of the amazing team at Rancho Valencia turned out an wonderful Chef’s Luncheon for us on Tuesday. About the only thing they weren’t on top of was the weather, and even that was amazing! We had a packed house and a really spectacular day.
Guests enjoyed passed canapes (Oyster Anglaise with Cress Cream and Skuna Bay Salmon Roe along with Scallop Tartare with Avocado, Pepper Relish, Lemon Oil and Saffron) while browsing a number of vendor booths including Skuna Bay Salmon, Fog City Caviar, Santa Barbara Smokehouse, Contessa Shrimp and Tuna, and our own Central Coast Seafood selections.
Lunch started with a welcome and introduction from Dave Litle, our Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing and a first course of Sashimi of Sea Bream with Chino Peas, Bagna Vert and Raw Asparagus Salad. Mike Romine from Strand Foods highlighted the Sea Bream, which we’re sourcing from Cyprus (and it was amazing raw!)
We then enjoyed a flavorful Mussel Escabeche with Cara Cara oranges, Smoked Paprika and Wild Fennel while Joe Scognamillo from DiCarlo Shellfish walked us through some seasonal favorites.
Next up was Slow Butter Poached Sablefish with a Brown Butter Clam Froth, Ragout of Chino Turnips and Radish with Lemon Hearts and Shoots – simply amazing! The meal ended with a dessert course featuring Cirtus Curd, Chino Strawberries, a Black Pepper and Cardamon crisp and Coconut Gelato. A perfect end to a perfect event!
Check out this great photo set on Flickr - it’s almost like you were there!
Our next Chef’s Luncheon is coming up next week at Mastro’s Ocean Club in Newport Beach and there are still a few seats available – check in with your rep for more details! Executive Chef Matt Briggs will be preparing a customized menu featuring Local and Responsibly Sourced Seafood along with other local Mastro’s chefs. We’ll be providing an open forum to discuss increased community understanding of environmental responsibility and ways you can offer your customers more sustainable options on your menu.
Hope to see you there!
Working Towards a Better Tomorrow for Sea Turtles
Back in November, we announced our support for the Bird’s Head Leatherback Project as a part of our Responsible Sourcing Vendor Partnership (RSVP) Program. This project is working to protect valuable nesting beaches for the Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle, a species on the verge of extinction (and also California’s State Marine Reptile!). These animals have been undergoing a steady decline in numbers since 1980, and there is worry that they could disappear entirely in the next 20 years if issues surrounding habitat destruction and unintentional bycatch are not dealt with.
Fortunately, Ricardo Tapilatu from Bird’s Head Leatherback is working hard on research and protection. He and his team of researchers have just completed a comprehensive research paper on Western Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtles – and they got published in the Ecosphere journal. This fantastic news was widely circulated through international media, bringing attention to the cause – good work!
Santa Monica Seafood is proud to be able to help out with our RSVP contribution to this program in need!
Chef Andrew Sutton heading to the Kentucky Derby!
Congratulations to Chef Andrew Sutton of Napa Rose who is advancing to the Skuna Bay Kentucky Derby Challenge final!
The winning dish, “Skuna Bay Salmon Assorted Tastes and Textures, Southern California Style” was deliciously described by Priscilla Mayfield of Orange Coast Magazine;
“Sutton’s Skuna Bay Salmon Assorted Tastes and Textures, Southern California Style may have a long name, but it’s accurate. During the prep and cooking, I’d watched him zest a small mountain of tangerines and lemons, which figured into the light citrus cure on the exterior of his salmon belly sashimi and the puddle of golden, emulsified citrus vinaigrette beneath. A pan-roasted fillet was perfectly moist and translucent in the center, its tenderness the ideal contrast for ultra-crisped skin. My favorite of Sutton’s three preparations was an escabeche featuring salmon exactingly cut in tiny cubes, serrano chilies, and more of that California citrus in the mix.”
That dish advanced Chef Sutton to the semi-finals which were held yesterday, where he again emerged victorious!
Next stop? The Kentucky Derby where Chef Sutton will cook for the championship!
Check out this fun set of photos from the first event on our Facebook page, or follow @SkunaBay on Twitter – they were capturing all the action yesterday!
See you at the Derby!
A New Chapter for Toothfish
The buzz on the street this week is all about Toothfish (Chilean Seabass), which the Monterey Bay Aquarium has recently reclassified as a Green (“Best Choice”) or Yellow (“Good Alternative”) depending on where it’s from. Quite a change for the fish that was once the poster child of the sustainable seafood movement…
Dr. Tom Pickerell, Senior Science Manager at Seafood Watch said;
“Assessment of the suite of Toothfish fisheries took almost a year. In order to be confident in our results, we have a rigorous process that ensures that all the relevant data are analyzed and our findings peer reviewed. While some may consider a recommendation to buy Toothfish somewhat controversial, we are confident in our analyses and the industry has demonstrated that it is possible to harvest this species in a responsible manner.”
A combination of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) Toothfish fishing, seabird bycatch, and poor management had plagued the industry, but according to The Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO), the last 15 years have seen enormous improvements in many areas – as recognized by the improved MBA rankings.
A COLTO press release noted;
“There has been a 95% decline in IUU catches of Patagonian Toothfish since then. There are remnants of IUU fishing for Antarctic Toothfish in high seas areas of the Indian Ocean, outside national jurisdictional controls, which are still being addressed. COLTO operators continue as prime deterrents to IUU operations in those remote regions.
In Chile the use of bird mitigation measures called ‘cachaloteras’ on longline fishing vessels reduced the bycatch of albatross to zero. In New Zealand, development of integrated weighting line virtually eliminated seabird bycatch for auto-line Toothfish vessels, globally.”
The majority of improvements are due, in part, to The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) which was established with the objective of conserving Antarctic marine life. CCAMLR is an international commission that agrees on a set of conservation measures that determine the use of marine living resources in the Antarctic, including Toothfish.
According to their website,
“In the legal Toothfish fisheries managed by CCAMLR and countries with territorial waters, the most common method is fishing by longlines (where a long ‘mainline’ is set in the water, with many baited hooks coming off that line). There is a small amount of Toothfish caught by trawling (where a net is towed behind the boat for short periods of time). For all methods of legal fishing for Toothfish, there are minimal interactions with seabirds these days. This is a result of requirements for legal operators to use mitigation devices or approaches such as:
- Seasonal fishery closures during the summer months due to increase in seabird abundance for chick rearing;
- No setting of hooks during the daytime;
- No fishing without having a bird-scaring line trailing out the back of the boat to keep birds away from the hooks;
- Bird Exclusion Devices (BED) or ‘brickle curtain’ to be used on 100% of hauls;
- Boats must use weighted longlines so that the baits and hooks sink before the birds can grab them;
- Limitations on release of offal overboard at the same time as the setting or hauling of lines (to avoid attracting seabirds when they may otherwise be vulnerable to the baits and hooks).
A combination of international cooperation to improve resource management, commitment to ending IUU fishing and a dedicated effort to address by-catch and other issues over the last 15 years have finally paid off for lovers of Toothfish!
According to Seafood Watch, “Chilean Seabass (Patagonian Toothfish) from Heard and McDonald Islands, the Falkland Islands and Macquarie Island is a “Best Choice.” Ross Sea Antarctic Toothfish and Patagonian Toothfish from South Georgia and Kerguelen are “Good Alternatives.” Toothfish from Crozet Islands, Prince Edward and Marion Islands, and Chile are on the “Avoid” list.
Four Toothfish fisheries are certified as sustainable to the standard of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
We will now classify our Toothfish offerings as “Yellow” or “Good Alternative” on our invoice ranking system. If you’re already buying Toothfish from us, this will elevate your overall sustainability ranking, and if you’ve hesitated in the past, now is the time to talk to your Santa Monica Seafood sales representative about getting this delicious and responsibly harvested fish on your menu!
RSVP Program Funds Mahi Mahi FIP
We’re proud to announce that our latest RSVP Program funding recipient is the Peruvian Mahi Mahi Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) that World Wildlife Fund is engaged in!
Why did we pick this particular project? A couple of reasons. For one, Peruvian mahi mahi is an important fishery for us and the rest of the United States market. However, mahi mahi is typically fished with surface longlines baited with thousands of hooks, which can result in bycatch – especially of endangered sea turtles. A monitoring program is needed to know if bycatch of other species, such as sea birds, is also an issue in the fishery.
The fishery also needs improved management of the resource and monitoring to ensure that the fishery’s existing regulations are being complied with. For these reasons, we feel it’s an important FIP for WWF to be working on.
Still in the early phases of development, some of the Peruvian mahi mahi FIP activities will address these bycatch and management issues.
Santa Monica Seafood’s financial support of the Peruvian mahi mahi FIP will help ensure that forward progress will be made in implementing necessary activities and increase the future supply of sustainable mahi mahi.
We’re looking forward to seeing what our financial support, and the support of others can do to help improve this important source of one of our favorite fish!”
(Thanks to Diego Perez/WWF Peru for the above photo)
More Good News for Seafood Lovers!
According to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Washington, researchers found that older adults who had the highest blood levels of the fatty acids found in fish lived, on average, 2.2 years longer than those with lower levels. The study found that older adults who have higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids may be able to lower their overall mortality risk by as much as 27% and their mortality risk from heart disease by about 35%.
And where are those omega-3 fatty acids found? Almost exclusively in fatty fish and seafood!
According to lead author Dariush Moaffarian, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at HSPH;
“Although eating fish has long been considered part of a healthy diet, few studies have assessed blood omega-3 levels and total deaths in older adults. Our findings support the importance of adequate blood omega-3 levels for cardiovascular health, and suggest that later in life these benefits could actually extend the years of remaining life.”
Check out the study here, and as always, eat more seafood!
Gear Research may Benefit Sword Fishermen
We’d like to introduce you to the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research’s project to test alternative deep set buoy (DSBG) swordfish gear in the Southern California Bight. DSBG, if proven effective, will enable our fisherman to increase landings of harpoon-quality fish in a more environmentally responsible manner then the current drift net fishery at about the same operating cost. In turn, this will reduce our dependence on foreign imports and help revitalize our local fishing communities.
We rely a great deal on swordfish at Santa Monica Seafood. It ranks in the top five highest volume species in pounds purchased and it is generally plentiful. Harpoon-caught sword is the premium when it comes to quality, but is increasingly harder to get our hands on because of the associated fuel costs.
Over the last 75 years we have seen the great loss of local landings and fishery jobs in our community. Although some of these losses have been necessary for conservation, the reasons are often related to the endangerment of collateral species and not the target species. Projects like DSBG move us closer to the goal of reducing accidental by-catch while preserving California’s fishing heritage.
Learn more about what the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research does on their informative website (and enjoy a great swordfish video)!
“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Seafood!”
Congratulations to all 30 chefs who have advanced to the next stage of Skuna Bay’s Kentucky Derby Challenge! Competition now begins to see who will represent Skuna Bay at the Taste of Derby at this year’s Kentucky Derby culinary experience!
We’d like to send a special shout out to all those chefs who got there using Skuna Bay Salmon from Santa Monica Seafood:
- Eugenio Martignago (West – Carlsbad, CA)
- Christopher Eddy (Campanile, Los Angeles)
- Kenneth Fazel (Tender, Las Vegas)
- Andrew Sutton (Napa Rose, Anaheim)
- Chris George (Roy’s Pasadena)
- John Vega (TAPS Fish House, Corona)
Here’s hoping that one (if not two!) of our regional chefs will advance to the finals and be chosen to represent at the cook off at this year’s Kentucky Derby. We’ll keep you updated as soon as the winners are announced!
Innovating with Seafood
Daniel Smith wrote a compelling piece recently for FSR entitled “7 Innovations of Highly Imaginative Restaurants” that we found interesting… of course, we’re going to give you our seafood-centric take on his ideas for how your restaurant can stay ahead of the curve when it comes to future foodservice trends.
- Micro-pairing – offering a specific cocktail paired with one dish on your menu. You may already be doing this with wine, but why not add a suggested cocktail? Appetizer items, like shrimp or oysters, could pair nicely with a variety of specially crafted drinks.
- Pickling – What an interesting way to offer seafood out of season… we’re big fans of pickled wild salmon, and a pickled shrimp topping a bloody mary would be a delightful touch at brunch.
- “New Peruvian” – sounds like working a Peruvian seafood dish (like ceviche) into your menu will keep you on the cutting edge…
- Farm-to-Table Inspiring In-house Butcheries – according to the article, “for many restaurants, an in-house butchery offers heightened control over freshness, portions, and pricing, a particularly critical element as beef prices are projected to reach record highs in 2013. By butchering in-house, a restaurant can ensure that nothing goes to waste—bones can be used for stocks, trimmed fat can be added into sausages, and off-cuts can become signature dishes.” Although the author is discussing meat, the same ideas hold true for seafood. Ordering a whole salmon gives you control over the entire fish, and leaves you with tasty trimmings that can find their way into a variety of dishes.
Communal dining, house-branded alcohol and Chef driven menus are also on the list. Let us know if you find any of the ideas particularly inspiring!
New Canned Tuna options now Available
We’re now carrying two great options for those of you looking to add a Canned Tuna to your inventory. Canned Tuna is an easy way to offer a lean and nutritious seafood option at a price both you and your customers will appreciate. Additionally, canned Tuna is convenient, rich in essential nutrients like protein and Omega-3 fatty acids and is naturally low fat. All that, and it’s delicious!
We tasted a lot of tuna in our effort to bring you the highest quality canned tuna on the market. That’s why we’re now bringing in Contessa Premium Tuna – a trusted seafood name for decades! We’ve worked with Contessa for years, and we’re excited to be adding their Tuna to our inventory – we think you will be too!
We’re offing two options – Solid Albacore and Chunk Tongol Tuna – both in 4 lb 2.5 oz. cans (6 cans to a case) making it easy for you to add tuna to your menu. Tuna Salads, Tuna Wraps, Tuna Melts – no matter how you menu it, your guests will appreciate the flavor and quality of both these tuna options.
Ask you Santa Monica Sales Representative about this new Tuna option today!
Boston Bound!
Like most of the seafood industry, we’ve got a group of people packing their bags (and winter coats) and heading to East Coast late this week for the International Boston Seafood Show. This annual event is the largest seafood trade exposition in North America and we’re looking forward to another great event in 2013!
Meetings with current (and potential) suppliers, checking out new products, attending educational panels and presentations, and plenty of informal relationship building – Boston is the place to be this weekend!
Our Executive Vice President, Michael Cigliano, is looking forward to seeing some current customers along with plenty of potential new customers – all in one spot. “Boston is a great sales opportunity and I love learning about what’s new on the market,” he says.
Logan Kock, our Vice President of Strategic Purchasing & Responsible Sourcing says his favorite part about the Boston Seafood Show is “reaffirming vendor relationships even if it’s just a hand shake enroute between meetings. Our long term established suppliers are one of our most important assets, providing us market information as well product.”
Anthony Cigliano Jr., one of our top Seafood Buyers, also appreciates the opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the world. “The best part is seeing all my vendors that are not local, and trying to find new vendors.”
Dave Litle, Vice President of Sales and Marketing is looking forward to meeting with colleagues face to face. ”I also appreciate the chance to sort of feel the vibe of the industry at the show… hoping this year is going to be a great one, and I think the show is a great chance to see how positive people are feeling.”
We’ll see you in Boston!
Lobster Market Update
It’s been a tough month for lobster lovers, for a number of reasons…
Typical winter weather (think strong winds and snow storms) keeps boats in the harbor so there has not been a lot of fishing for the last month or so. The water temperature is also low, so even if boats could get out, their catch would be limited… Lobsters tend to dig in and not move when the water gets cold – they’ll wait for a warming period before heading out again (who can blame them!)
Meanwhile, any lobsterman that was holding lobsters, waiting for prices to go up has now most likely sold them; even the dealers and wholesalers have moved the majority of their winter inventory. What’s left are weaker lobsters that generally don’t meet our quality standards.
And that’s the good news. The bad news is it’s not going to get better for another month, at least. One supplier told us “it’s going to be more of who has any lobsters, not about price.”
Please talk this over with your Sales Representative. We don’t want increased prices to come as a surprise to anyone, and we also want you to be prepared for shortages. We have some options available to help tide you over, and your Rep can help you decide what works best for your situation.
Meanwhile, think spring!
SFP + RSVP = FIP (OMG!)
The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) Gulf shrimp fisheries improvement project (FIP) has been supported with RSVP Program funds now for almost a year, working on retrofitting the trawl fleet on the Northwest coast of Mexico with bycatch-reduction devices and training the ship’s crews in their use. Additionally, this fisheries improvement project is engaging with the Mexican government to increase enforcement and regulations pertaining to the gulf shrimp fishery.
The Gulf fleet, which provides 70 percent of its pacific blue, whiteleg, and yellowleg shrimp catch to the United States market, has an unfortunately high rate of unintended catch. Industrial bottom trawlers indiscriminately net non-target species, which in this region includes endangered sea turtles, seahorses, and the totoaba – an endemic (found only in the Gulf of California) sea bass species. SFP estimates that to date tens of thousands of tons of bycatch has been discarded in this fishery, spanning 600 non-target species.
In August and September of 2012, the SFP held a total of 8 training workshops in Mazatlan, Topolobampo, Guaymas, and Puerto Peñasco for members of the gulf shrimp trawl fleet. The workshops were split into two parts: the first focused on the basics of bycatch-reduction technology and the changes being made to the Mexican Official Standard regulating body. The second part of the workshop focused on the specifics of retrofitting gear and training in the use of the new equipment. In total, 364 participants attended, representing 279 vessels; this figure indicates that 40% of the total gulf shrimp trawler fleet has been outfitted with turtle and fish exclusion devices and trained in their usage – a huge step forward!
BIG thanks to the SFP and all the great work they do! Learn more about the Gulf Shrimp FIP on their website.
In other news, we received a quarterly update from Heal the Bay’s “Key to the Sea” program. Heal the Bay provides an opportunity for Los Angeles area youth to experience marine education through partnerships with area aquariums. At this point in the 2012-2013 school year, the program has reached 2,527 students and 108 teachers through 51 different field trips. Keep up the good work!
Taking a Stand Against Seafood Fraud
Seafood fraud continues to make the front pages of newspapers across the country, and if you are keeping up with the numbers, it would seem that species substitution is a national epidemic. We fully support any effort to expose fraudulent purveyors, restaurant owners and chefs but we also want you to understand the steps we take to make sure all of our seafood is exactly what we say it is.
Let’s start at the receiving dock. We receive a huge percentage of our fresh fish and shellfish in whole form – there’s no way to label a whole farmed steelhead salmon as “Wild King Salmon” and get it past our experienced receiving team. Not that we’d ever get to that point – a key component of our sourcing program are the long-term relationships we’ve formed with quality suppliers over our 70-plus years of doing business. All of our suppliers understand that we have a zero-tolerance for species substitution. It’s simply not acceptable.
However, we do perform random DNA testing as a backstop, and we keep our supplier relationships in an “active” mode – that is, we don’t just sit back and purchase seafood; our purchasing team spends a lot of time on the road, visiting suppliers and making sure operations are up to our high standards. We also interact with our suppliers and other purveyors at industry events throughout the year.
Certifications, like FSSC 22000 and ISO 14001, are another way to ensure that all our of internal systems are operating under the highest standards in the industry. We’re serious about providing the safest, most responsibly sourced seafood possible, and maintaining these certifications is part of that commitment.
Our inventory tracking, invoicing and record keeping systems are state-of-the-art, and we assure you that what’s on your invoice is exactly what you’re receiving from us. If you have any questions or concerns, or need clarification on a species, country of origin, capture method or anything, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Santa Monica Seafood Awarded ISO 14001 Certification
Santa Monica Seafood is proud to announce we are now an ISO 14001 certified company! This globally-recognized certification acknowledges that the standards used throughout our entire operation will help ensure the reduction of our environmental impact on the planet.
This was not an easy feat — we are one of only two seafood companies in North America to achieve this globally recognized certification. And, more impressive, we are the only seafood distributor, in the entire world, to possess both the ISO 14001 as well as the FSSC 22000 certification on our food safety systems!!
If you’re wondering just how we’re going to achieve our commitments under our ISO 14001 certification, we’ve started by implementing an Environmental Management System incorporating compliance with ISO 14001 standards in ALL our operations. We have strengthened this commitment with the following additional objectives:
- Meeting or exceeding all relevant federal, state and local legislation and regulatory requirements;
- Focusing on Responsible Sourcing when it comes to purchasing seafood products;
- Preventing pollution, specifically through reduction of natural resource usage such as energy, water and reduction of our carbon footprint where practical;
- Reducing waste from all operations by implementing specific programs including recycling, converting our industrial waste and having an active Green Office program to be more sustainable even within our office environment;
- Demonstrating continual improvement over time by setting goals designed to reduce our environmental impact so as to better protect our oceans, lakes, rivers and streams and the resources they produce; and
- Training our employees on our environmental program and encouraging them to participate and contribute to its success.
By choosing to buy from a company with a current ISO 14001 Certification, you show your commitment to a healthy planet! It’s also your assurance that not only are you buying the highest quality seafood on the market, but you’re buying from a company with a certified commitment to the environment and sustainability.
All of Santa Monica Seafood’s employees are continuously striving to create a cleaner and safer environment. We’re also committed to communicating our efforts to the public regarding our plans and progress in environmental management. Be sure to check our blog and visit our Facebook page for periodic updates on our progress.