It’s California spiny lobster season, from October through mid-March. Local fishermen and seafood retailers are celebrating its arrival, announcing the happy news that prices are the lowest in many years and the supply plentiful.
What’s changed?
In recent years, more than 95 percent of these well-loved California crustaceans were shipped to China, leaving only high-priced, limited quantities for local consumption. But this year, with trade wars and geopolitical tensions, sales to China are significantly down.
Dave Rudie, founder and president of Catalina Offshore Products, who offers seafood wholesale and retail seafood from his Morena district warehouse, last year saw the Chinese lobster market collapse after initial October shipments. Thereafter, Catalina sold the tasty crustaceans mainly to local and national customers.
Now Rudie and local fishermen selling lobsters off their boats at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market and Driscoll’s Wharf have announced an initial price of $20 per lobster, running from 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds. Haworth Fishing also offers home delivery for lobsters and fresh fish ordered online at haworthfish.com.
Increased local availability of California spiny lobsters is only one of many changes the fishing industry has experienced since the pandemic hit mid-March, shutting down most restaurants. As their primary market disappeared, fishermen and seafood distributors who normally buy their catch found themselves with a glut of tens of thousands of pounds of freshly caught fish — and few customers.
“Previously, 75 percent of our seafood was sold in restaurants,” Rudie explained.
With operations limited to carryout and delivery, less friendly to fish preparations, restaurants could buy little seafood. Some wholesalers shut down temporarily while others scaled back operations and laid off most workers.
But, what to do with all the seafood?
Catalina, which started its online sales in 2002 and added walk-in retail later, blasted an email to customers offering its overabundant ahi at rock-bottom prices, with preorders and curbside delivery available.
“When restaurants first closed, everyone stayed home,” Rudie said. “They didn’t want to go to fish markets, but a week later they started buying.”
Rumors circulated that some fishermen were contemplating suspending operations, discouraged by their lost markets. Then, just as quickly, attitudes changed, as reality sank in.
“People have to eat. If we don’t fish, what are people going to eat?” said David Haworth of Haworth Fishing, which operates six San Diego-based fishing vessels. “With the meat shortages (from packing plant closures), we were able to sell all our fish.”
But how they sold their fish changed. Fishermen who formerly sold most or all of their catch to wholesalers embraced direct-to-consumer sales at dockside markets.
“The locals are finding out about the market. They didn’t know where they could buy a good piece of fish. They’re coming and spending the day at the waterfront.”
Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, which debuted on the Embarcadero in 2014, experienced immediate sales growth of about 50 percent. Located adjacent to Seaport Village, the market features pop-up tents where fishermen sell their catch to the public. It is open on the pier every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or until sold out.
The market adopted public health protocols, explained Peter Halmay, president of the San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group and the market’s co-founder. Rather than welcome all comers, as previously, the market limits attendance to 50 socially distanced customers at a time, resulting in long lines.
“Different customers are coming now. Previously many Asian families came, but now they’re ed by a broad spectrum of customers, including downtown condo residents. The locals are finding out about the market,” Halmay said. “They didn’t know where they could buy a good piece of fish. They’re coming and spending the day at the waterfront.”
Locals also come to talk to the fishermen and their families about how to cook different fish varieties. Sales of less familiar species are booming, as are sales of whole fish, including many varieties of rockfish available at the market, explained Tommy Gomes, aka “Tommy the Fishmonger,” who’s spent much of his life in the fish business.
“American commercial fishermen adapt to every curveball thrown at them. The bigger companies weren’t buying as much fish. So the usually competitive fishermen banded together to sell their fish off their boats along the pier,” said Gomes, who plans to debut a new fish-related venture next spring.
Building on Tuna Harbor’s popularity, Haworth Fishing initiated a pop-up market last spring alongside their boat docked at Driscoll’s Wharf, 4904 N. Harbor Drive, about every week to 10 days, whenever a vessel arrives. There, Haworth offers fresh-caught ahi tuna at $10 a pound, as well as opah, yellowtail, halibut and black cod. Haworth is particularly proud of the fishermen group’s participation in the Fish to Families program, which provides 600 meals a week to needy families, seniors and veterans.
Catalina’s retail sales shifted from 20 percent to 50 percent of its business, stabilizing its retail market even as restaurants began reopening and buying more fish.
And people, hungry for a good piece of fish, learned to cook it at home — and discovered that cooking fish is quick, easy and economical.
Direct-to-consumer and Internet-based sales are proving a good deal for both the fishermen and consumers.
“We’re getting more for the fishermen and customers are getting a better price,” explained Halmay, a veteran sea urchin diver.
Customers, all agree, are changing their habits and preparing fresh seafood at home, appreciating San Diego’s remarkable bounty.
Tips on preparing California spiny lobster
California spiny lobsters, unlike Maine lobsters, lack claws. Their meat is in their tails. Wear gloves when handling these “spiny” creatures. They should be alive when purchased and cooked live or killed humanely just before cooking.
Chef Jenn Felmley, personal chef, caterer and remote and in-person cooking instructor, recommends using this humane technique:
“With the lobster head facing you, pierce the head using a large knife and split in half, killing it instantly. Turn the lobster on its back and, using a large knife, split it lengthwise down the middle. Spread open the body and tails but do not remove the meat from the shells. Remove the eyes and antennae and scrape out the digestive sac, reserving the tomalley and roe, if desired. Remove the legs from the body and reserve these for another recipe.”
Lobsters can be grilled, boiled or baked.
To grill, brush the cut side of split lobster tails with oil and cook directly on a medium-hot grill for 3 to 5 minutes until the shell lightens in color, before turning over for another 3 minutes.
Alternatively, boil in a large pot of salted water for 8 to 12 minutes, draining thoroughly. Or bake the tail meat, basted with butter and seasoned with salt and pepper, in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until opaque.
Serve with melted butter.
Lobster Fra Diavolo
Makes 6 to 8 servings
½ cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 2-pound lobsters, cleaned, tails cut into 6 pieces, claws cracked open (for Maine lobsters), legs removed and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces, bodies reserved (see tips on preparation)
½ cup cognac or brandy
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes in juice, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound fettuccini
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Place a large Dutch oven or wide pot over medium heat. When heated, add olive oil. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and lobsters, cut side down, and cook until shells turn red and the lobster meat is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. (Cook lobsters in batches if necessary.) Remove lobsters from pot and set aside.
Add cognac and tomatoes to pot and bring to a simmer. Add tomato paste, oregano and bay leaf; stir well. Simmer, uncovered, until sauce has thickened, about 6 to 7 minutes. Taste and season with additional red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, to taste. Return lobster to the sauce and simmer until cooked through, about 5 more minutes.
While sauce is cooking, fill large pot with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt until water is as salty as seawater. Add pasta, stir and cook until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving ½ cup pasta cooking water.
Transfer lobsters to a plate. Add pasta to the sauce and toss, using pasta water to thin. Transfer to a large serving platter and sprinkle with parsley. Place the lobster atop pasta. Serve family-style.
Pan-Seared Goldspot Bass With Creamy Tarragon Sauce
Goldspot bass is a lean white fish, easily replaced by rockfish, snapper or any lean white fish fillet. Remove the small pin bones from the fillets making a “V” shaped cut. Reserve these small cuts of fish for making fish stock, adding water and veggies to make a simple, freezable fish stock usable for future dishes.
Makes 4 servings
FOR THE SAUCE:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup fish stock, room temperature
½ cup dry, unoaked white wine (Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio)
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried), plus extra leaves for garnish (see Chef’s Tip)
Salt and pepper to taste
In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, whisk flour into butter, cooking until a light blond paste forms. Slowly add stock into the roux, whisking constantly. Remove pan from the heat (ensuring alcohol doesn’t catch fire) and pour in white wine and cream. Return to heat and simmer till just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in tarragon right before serving; season with salt and pepper.
Chef’s Tip: if using dried tarragon, simmer it in the fish stock for 10 minutes to rehydrate and bring out the flavors. If you don’t have tarragon, use dill or lemon zest.
FOR THE PAN-SEARED GOLDSPOT BASS:
4 – 6 ounce goldspot bass fillet, skin and pin bones removed, trimmed to even thickness
4 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil (vegetable oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil)
Kosher salt and white pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush fish with oil. Generously season with salt and pepper. Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish fillet, flesh side down (the side where the skin had been facing up). Cook until a brown crust forms, about 2 minutes.
For thin fillets, gently flip over fillet with a fish spatula and cook until fish is opaque almost all the way through (leave time for carry-over cooking; fish will continue to cook even after removal from the pan), about 2 minutes. For larger cuts of fish, remove fish from pan and place onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, skin side down. Place in oven and cook for 5 to 7 minutes for fillets about ¾-inch thick. Remove from oven. Serve by ladling sauce onto the plate, placing fillet atop; garnish with tarragon leaves.
Chef’s Tip: I brush my fish with oil instead of placing oil into my pan. When cooking fish in oil, the oil takes on the flavor of the fish. When heated, this oil disperses into your kitchen, causing the aroma of fish to linger.
Recipes courtesy of Chef Jenn Felmley of Chef Jenn Cooks Personal Chef Services.
Sours Larson is a San Diego freelance writer.
