Warm Water lobster tails from the Pacific Ocean - Central American fishery

The Panulirus Gracilis lobster specie is found off of the Pacific coast of Central America. It is a small lobster; 90% of the lobster tails produced are in the 3-5oz range. These warm water lobsters have a spiny bright green shell and are caught by artisanal divers using surface supplied air or breath holding. Their fishing boats are either a small skiff or a canoe.  When the water is clear, a diver can find 10-30 lobsters in one day.   

The main sources of production are Panama and Nicaragua. I am familiar with the fishery in Nicaragua and it is sustainable and well managed. I believe this hand-caught fishing method is a big reason for the health of the fishery. The lobster tail freezing facilities are located in Managua, Nicaragua, which is a city located on the Pacific coast. The lobster tails arrive to the processing plants fresh throughout the day. They are immediately processed and are once frozen. I mention this because some fisheries freeze their lobster tails at sea, thaw them out at the processing plant for cleaning etc., then, refreeze them (twice frozen).

Central American production is relatively small compared to the Caribbean. Most of the shipments are flown by air to the USA, not sent by ship container; therefore, production figures are hard to track.

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Loligo Squid

Loligo Squid is a calamari specie that is prized around the world for its flavor and consistency.  There are many different types of loligo that come from different countries.  Known as long fin squid, this specie has a transparent (plastic-like) quill for its backbone.  The US has two commercial harvested species of loligo calamari:  Loligo pealei and Loligo opalescens. 

Loligo pealei, also known as Boston squid, is commercially harvested on the East Coast from New Jersey to Maine. Prized as one of the most flavorful and naturally tender of the loliginidae, it commands a premium in the whole and cleaned calamari marketplace.  Product used to be harvested and cleaned in the USA.  Now, product is harvested in the USA, land or sea frozen, and oftentimes sent to China for processing.  Whole frozen Loligo pealei is exported to Europe or Asia.

Loligo Opalesens is known in the marketplace as California Calamari.  This specie of loligo is smaller than the pealei and although quite flavorful, it is considered tougher or chewier.  There is big retail (supermarket) demand for whole frozen of this specie packed in 3lb. window boxes.  Once again if there is good catching, product is harvested in the USA, land or sea frozen, and oftentimes sent to China for cleaning.  An El Niño or La Niña in the Pacific impacts catching quite dramatically.

Boston squid (pealei) is the most expensive of all the cleaned calamari in the US market.  It is not as abundant in the market as the imported loligo species (vulgaris, chinensis) but it is the premium standard for taste and tenderness.  The cleaned forms for these loligo species include:  Tubes and Tentacles, Tubes Only, Rings Only and Rings & Tentacles.  The size references the tube length of the cleaned squid body, 5/8 means each tube length is approximately 5-8 inches long.  8/12 means each tube length is approximately 8-12 inches long and so forth.  The tentacles are typically packed in the natural proportion that occurs….about 35%.

In my next blog I will review the imported species of Loligo squid and discuss how they compare to the domestic Loligo pealei.

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Welcome!

 This is your place to learn about a wide variety of fresh and frozen seafood.  Posts will cover a variety of topics.  Expect to see focus features on individual species of fish such as Cod or Pollock.  You’ll also see articles comparing different species of Shrimp, Crab, or Lobster.  Some posts will have pictures of fish and will teach you how to handle and prepare them.  Other posts will focus on the seafood commodity markets, helping you to anticipate rises and falls.  We’ll explain the different species of wild Salmon, the different countries of origin for farmed Salmon, and how to choose which to use.  Additionally we will have a recipe section with our favorite seafood recipes and a glossary of fish terms that may stump you.  The seafood experts who will be contributing to this website have an average of 20 years of experience.  In general, our focus is on posting and publishing articles, as such we will be moderated and are not likely to post many responses.  We will review your responses however, and will do our best to reply to you off-line.  Feel free to email us with suggestions for future posts as well.  Again, this website is for you.  Thank you for your attention, and welcome to seafoodexperts.net!

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Fresh Swordfish

While fresh swordfish can be enjoyed year round, perhaps the best time to do it is during the months of September and October. Off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia and surrounding areas just north and south of Boston lies the cold, clean, waters of the Emerald Basin, home to some of the largest, fattiest, and best tasting swordfish found anywhere in the world.

Harvested by long line Canadian fishing vessels, these large, Atlantic Ocean swordfish are prized for their freshness, firm meat, and taste. The cold water environment makes the fish nice and fat, giving the meat a lot of flavor, similar to marbling in beef. You can’t get these fish year round. They are mostly caught between late August and early November, with the majority of the fish landed in September and October.

If you are a lover of swordfish, now is the time to savor what you already enjoy. If you are curious as to what swordfish tastes like, you will get no better opportunity to have the “real deal” in these next two months. So the next time you wish to have swordfish, ask if it’s Canadian Basin swordfish. You will be glad that you did.

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