# Where do you get your fish?



## fishinggirl (Nov 8, 2016)

Where do you get your fish? At the local grocer, a supermarket chain (like Safeway, Wholefoods)?

How do you choose your fish? What is your decision process?

How often do you make a fish dish?


----------



## Andy M. (Nov 8, 2016)

We average eating fish once or twice a month.

We visit a couple of different supermarket fish departments.  They usually have a good selection of fresh fish.  We usually find what we like.


----------



## blissful (Nov 8, 2016)

We don't have a good selection of fresh fish in the middle of WI, USA, at reasonable prices. We had walleye yesterday, DH and his son went fishing and brought some back. We have fish once a month--walleye, crappie, northern pike, sunfish, bluegills. And we have tuna maybe once a month.


----------



## CWS4322 (Nov 8, 2016)

Can't resist...Lake of the Woods. That's walleye and burbot (eelpout), a/k/a fresh water cod. Otherwise, we will buy freshwater fish at the local Locker Plant. It comes from area lakes. Wild salmon we get from the local AFB. It is frozen, but is US caught. We have salmon about once a week. We don't have a lot of fresh fish options here in Northern MN other than fresh water fish.


----------



## CraigC (Nov 9, 2016)

fishinggirl said:


> Where do you get your fish? At the local grocer, a supermarket chain (like Safeway, Wholefoods)?
> 
> How do you choose your fish? What is your decision process?
> 
> How often do you make a fish dish?



We usually shoot our fish (spearfishing) or get it from a trusted friend. If we buy it, it has to come from a trusted source or it has to be in a whole condition to determine freshness and quality.

When spearfishing, we target black grouper, gag (grey) grouper, mutton snapper and our favorite, hogfish.  These fish all have seasons and size limits, as well as bag limits. When we buy fish it has to pass the eye test, smell test and the touch test.

If you include all seafood, not just finned fish, we probably have 6 to 8 meals a month depending on what is in season.


----------



## CakePoet (Nov 9, 2016)

Pet Store?

I get my fish at a good fishmonger that comes in to town ones every week.


----------



## sparrowgrass (Nov 9, 2016)

I love fish and all seafood, but it is well nigh impossible to find fish processed in America here in the heartland (Missouri).  Pretty much my only grocery store choice is Walmart, and 99% of their fish is processed in China, even if it says wild caught on the label. I won't eat that.


----------



## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Nov 9, 2016)

I get all my seafood fresh off the boat at The Fishermen's Catch in Oxnard.


----------



## skilletlicker (Nov 9, 2016)

Living in the middle of the country and I buy my fish frozen in the big grocery chain store. If my favorite butcher lady is there she'll band-saw those long salmon filet still in the plastic wrap for me.


----------



## PrincessFiona60 (Nov 9, 2016)

I have a friend who goes salmon and halibut fishing in Alaska every year.  It is cleaned and flash frozen and shipped to me.  I use canned tuna in olive oil.


----------



## CharlieD (Nov 9, 2016)

Sadly Minnesota is not famous for fresh fish, maybe walleye, but I am more of the sea of ocean fish kind of person. 


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking


----------



## RPCookin (Nov 10, 2016)

CharlieD said:


> Sadly Minnesota is not famous for fresh fish, maybe walleye, but I am more of the sea of ocean fish kind of person.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking



Minnesota is better for fish than Colorado is.  Here if you aren't a trout fishermen, there isn't a lot else.  And limits are so restricted that catching anything that you can actually take home is a rare occurrence.

Ocean fish is all transported, usually frozen unless you want to pay a high premium for air freight.  Out here in the boonies we have very little to choose from, so we are more likely to do shrimp, or occasionally scallops, than fish, since the bagged frozen fish which is all that's available within a 2 hour drive is very unsatisfactory and too expensive for the low quality.  

I often by one or two whole fillets of mahi mahi or several pounds of other wild caught fish at the seafood counter in the better grocery stores when I get to Denver.  I put it on ice in a cooler and drive straight home, 150 miles.


----------



## Addie (Nov 10, 2016)

I get it from Larry's Fish Market. He goes to the fish auction every morning Mon-Fri to bid on the fish he knows he can sell that day. He is located right here down the square from where I live. I also buy my shellfish such as clams and oysters there. For lobster, if any of my friends haven't been out catching them over the weekend, I go to James Hook in town on Northern Avenue. All his lobsters are kept in filtered sea water until sold. And they have a quick turnover each day.


----------



## PrincessFiona60 (Nov 10, 2016)

RPCookin said:


> Minnesota is better for fish than Colorado is.  Here if you aren't a trout fishermen, there isn't a lot else.  And limits are so restricted that catching anything that you can actually take home is a rare occurrence.
> 
> Ocean fish is all transported, usually frozen unless you want to pay a high premium for air freight.  Out here in the boonies we have very little to choose from, so we are more likely to do shrimp, or occasionally scallops, than fish, since the bagged frozen fish which is all that's available within a 2 hour drive is very unsatisfactory and too expensive for the low quality.
> 
> I often by one or two whole fillets of mahi mahi or several pounds of other wild caught fish at the seafood counter in the better grocery stores when I get to Denver.  I put it on ice in a cooler and drive straight home, 150 miles.



Rick, is Cheyenne closer for you?  Have you checked out the stores there?  It's 85 miles from here, too far for weekly shopping but a once a month trip would not be out of the question.


----------



## RPCookin (Nov 10, 2016)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Rick, is Cheyenne closer for you?  Have you checked out the stores there?  It's 85 miles from here, too far for weekly shopping but a once a month trip would not be out of the question.



I think that the crow flies distance may be closer, but driving time is at least 1/2 hour more according to Google Maps (and I think that's a bit too conservative).  Denver is  basically a straight shot on the freeway, Cheyenne is either a round about route on the freeway, or zigzagging on county roads through northern Colorado.  Most county roads are straight north/south and east/west - no diagonals.


----------



## Addie (Nov 10, 2016)

RPCookin said:


> Minnesota is better for fish than Colorado is.  Here if you aren't a trout fishermen, there isn't a lot else.  And limits are so restricted that catching anything that you can actually take home is a rare occurrence.
> 
> Ocean fish is all transported, usually frozen unless you want to pay a high premium for air freight.  Out here in the boonies we have very little to choose from, so we are more likely to do shrimp, or occasionally scallops, than fish, since the bagged frozen fish which is all that's available within a 2 hour drive is very unsatisfactory and too expensive for the low quality.
> 
> I often by one or two whole fillets of mahi mahi or several pounds of other wild caught fish at the seafood counter in the better grocery stores when I get to Denver.  I put it on ice in a cooler and drive straight home, 150 miles.



Fresh salt water fish are very high in natural iodine. A necessary nutrient for a healthy thyroid. As a result of the shortage of salt water fish, the children in the central part of the country became victims of thyroid deficiency. So it was determined to add Iodine to table salt. Some sea salts have iodine added also. Most do not. So it is up to the buyer to check the label.


----------



## Katie H (Nov 10, 2016)

sparrowgrass said:


> I love fish and all seafood, but it is well nigh impossible to find fish processed in America here in the heartland (Missouri).  Pretty much my only grocery store choice is Walmart, and 99% of their fish is processed in China, even if it says wild caught on the label. I won't eat that.



Bingo!

Same here in the western part of Kentucky.  Until a seafood market opened up sort of near us last month, we had almost no choice.  The new market is nearly an hour away and is only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  They catch their own fish and seafood in the Gulf on the days they're not open.  I hope they are successful because we had some awesome red snapper a couple of weeks ago.

I miss living in Washington, DC because, there, the sky was the limit, especially for the stuff that came from Maryland's eastern shore.


----------



## Addie (Nov 10, 2016)

Katie, I hope the folks who live on the coast of any major ocean or waterway appreciate just how lucky they are. I could never live inland. I would miss the ocean and fresh fish too much. 

Red Snapper is so delicious!


----------



## Cooking Goddess (Nov 11, 2016)

I will buy cod or tuna from my local Price Chopper on occasion. Cod if I'm having it deep-fried, tuna when they get a shipment of "too much of a good thing" and have it labeled "fresh-caught" and "wild". I hope they are telling the truth. Otherwise,  I just buy frozen from Trader Joe's. They are very authentic in labeling their fish, are very careful in sourcing it, and make sure it is wild and not on the endangered list. Otherwise, I usually pass.




Addie said:


> ...Red Snapper is so delicious!


*Except is that Red Snapper REALLY Red Snapper*? I've made the mistake of taking *Got Garlic*'s suggestion to read the book "Real Food, Fake Food" by Larry Olmsted.   We've discussed the fake Parmesan cheese thing here at DC. Within the last few years Boston Globe did a test of truth in labeling for fish. Boston stores and restaurants fail the authentic test quite a bit - either 1/3 or 1/2 the time. However, according to a different test, BJ's, Costco, and Trader Joe's offer exactly what is on the label. I hope Larry is one of the fishmongers who make sure they are selling exactly what the sign says. Sometimes all someone like Larry has it to take the word of the wholeseller/broker.


----------



## Addie (Nov 11, 2016)

CG, I have been very fortunate in being married to a commercial fisherman. I learned a lot from him. When we moved to Texas so he could go shrimping again, he often brought home the blue crabs, along with the red snappers that got caught in the net along with the shrimp. I am aware of subbing one kind of cheap fish for another. Like using flounder for sole. So I stick with the fish I like and know in this region. Like Haddock, Cod and even Flounder. One of the reasons I buy fish from Larry's is that they are at the Fish Pier at four a.m. in order to be able to bid on that day's catch that just came off the boats. The auction starts at 5 a.m. As soon as you have won your bid, it is taken out at the back of the auction hall and loaded onto the your truck. What they bought for the day is as a rule, no more than what they can sell that day. If I want something for the weekend I better buy it on Friday. He is closed for the weekend.


----------



## BoracayB (Nov 11, 2016)

I get my fish from the wet market.
 This time of year red snapper and grouper are available.
They clean, filet and skin right there. They chop the heard and ribs for soup.
The eyes must be clear and the gills still pink.


----------



## skilletlicker (Nov 11, 2016)

I have lived in California and Florida and shopped on the wharves of San Francisco and Monterey. If I had the opportunity to shop like that again it would be wonderful.

But living hundreds of miles from the ocean, I don't feel too deprived if I can get flash frozen on the boat. Besides, would take one heck of a tsunami to get me.


----------

