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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
E-Ching Lee, 919/515-9098, eching_lee@ncsu.edu

Posted Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011.  See the related event posting.

Plan to attend the Cooking with the Chefs event, Oct. 1-2, as part of the North Carolina Seafood Festival in Morehead City. North Carolina Sea Grant is a cosponsor of this event.

Chefs from the North Carolina coast will demonstrate recipes using local seafood. These chefs represent the four local seafood branding programs — Carteret Catch, Brunswick Catch, Ocracoke Fresh and Outer Banks Catch. Also, featured this year are the 42nd Street Oyster Bar of Raleigh; Watts Grocery of Durham; and Sheri Castle, a UNC Press food writer.

Other organizations will have booths in the tent, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service, FishWatch and NOAA in the Carolinas.

Overall, the N.C. Seafood Festival opens on Friday, Sept. 30, and runs through Oct. 2, with seafood, crafts, music and more.

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North Carolina Sea Grant: Your link to research and resources for a healthier coast

There’s a new development in the Community Supported Fisheries arena. The www.LocalCatch.org website links CSF programs across North America and provides resources to communities that want to start their own.

For background on the CSF concept, read North Carolina Sea Grant’s Winter 2010 Coastwatch story that documents initial research and pilots in North Carolina and the early community programs in Northeast states. A year and a half later, LocalCatch.org lists — and links to — 62 programs (and growing) in North America.

The organization’s steering committee has several partners that have worked with Sea Grant on CSF programs, including Joshua Stoll and Lisa Campbell.

Stoll is a current National Sea Grant College Program Knauss Fellow from North Carolina and co-founder of Walking Fish CSF.

Campbell is a Duke researcher. North Carolina Sea Grant funded her study of Down East Carteret County that provided the groundwork for the ongoing www.SaltwaterConnections.o​rg economic development efforts in the state.

Her research was covered in a Holiday 2010 Coastwatch article. Stoll was one of the graduate students who worked with Campbell.

This new website is separate from the Local Catch: North Carolina Seafood Availability cards. To find Sea Grant’s seasonal availability cards, visit: www.ncseagrant.org and search for “local catch.”

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Available year-round, the native hard clam, or quahog, has always been a coastal favorite. Its scientific name, Mercenaria mercenaria, comes from the Latin word for “wages.” Native Americans once used quahog shells to make beads that were used as wampum, or money.

Today clams may be bought in the shell or shucked. Those in the shell should be heavy and tightly closed, or should close when tapped lightly. They should have a pleasant, briny odor. Discard any with open or broken shells.

Clam meat is translucent. Its color ranges from ivory to golden brown. The liquid should be clear or slightly opaque.

Markets classify hard clams by size. The smallest, under 2 inches, is called the littleneck, after Little Neck Bay on Long Island, where they were once plentiful. Cherrystones are 2 to 3 inches and are named after Cherrystone Creek in Virginia. Topnecks are 3 to 3 ½ inches. Any quahog larger than 3 ½ inches is called a chowder clam.

The smaller clams, littlenecks and small cherrystones, are firm but tender with a mild flavor. They can be steamed, broiled, baked, grilled, used in clambakes or other cooked dishes, or on the half-shell. Large clams are less tender, so it’s best to chop them for chowders, fritters or stuffed clams. In addition to their great taste and versatility, clams are low in calories, fat and cholesterol.

If you enjoy steamed clams, oysters and mussels, you may want to buy a shellfish steamer. It’s a large two-section pot (much like a double boiler). The bottom part holds water. The top part is much bigger, usually more than twice the height of the bottom pot. It has holes in the bottom that allow steam to rise and surround the shellfish. You can buy an inexpensive, enamel one at specialty shops, large general merchandise stores and many hardware stores.

Many of you will buy your clams already shucked. For recipes calling for cooking clams in the shell, you can buy imitation shells at many specialty or kitchen stores. You can also use individual ramekins, dividing the clams into serving portions, but the effect is not the same. If you do this, increase the cooking time as necessary.

Remember to cook clams only until tender. Overcooking toughens them. Also, watch the amount of salt you add to clam dishes. Many clams taste salty naturally, and any additional salt will be too much.

Adapted from Mariner’s Menu: 30 Years of Fresh Seafood Ideas

Contributed by Joyce Taylor

Credit: Duane Raver

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Bluefish are characterized by a blue-green back with silvery sides and belly, a pointed snout and sharp, compressed teeth. They are found along the U.S. Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. Bluefish are aggressive predators and feed on squid and fish, especially menhaden.

Bluefish can live as long as 12 years, reach up to 39 inches in length and weigh as much as 21 pounds. They migrate seasonally according to changes in water temperature. During winter, large bluefish tend to remain in the mid-Atlantic region and then move south to North Carolina around March. Small bluefish will move farther south during winter. As water temperatures rise, they will migrate northward.

Bluefish are important to both recreational and commercial fishermen. Approximately 60 percent of bluefish are caught with hook and line, which has relatively low bycatch rates. This species is managed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. In the Atlantic Ocean, bluefish populations are high and overfishing is not occurring.

For more information on bluefish, go to: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/bluefish.htm.

Contributed by Barry Nash

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Crayfish are eaten worldwide. Like other edible crustaceans, only a small portion of the crayfish is edible.

In most prepared dishes, such as soups, bisques and étouffées, only the tail portion is served. At crayfish boils or other meals where the entire body of the crayfish is presented, other portions may be eaten.

Claws of larger boiled specimens are often pulled apart to access the meat inside. Another favorite is to suck the head of the crayfish, as seasoning and flavor can collect in the fat of the boiled interior.

A common myth is that a crayfish with a straight tail died before it was boiled and is not safe to eat. In reality, crayfish that died before boiling can have curled tails as well as straight, as can those that were alive, and may very well be fine to eat.

Boiled crayfish which died before boiling are safe to eat if they were kept chilled before boiling and were not dead for a long time. A good way to determine safety in crayfish meat is whether it is mushy, usually an indication that it should be avoided.

Over 90% of the domestic crayfish production occurs in southern Louisiana and the Florida panhandle. In 2009, North Carolina had four active crayfish growers with 30 acres in production. Total harvest (tail meat) was 10,200 pounds with a farm gate value of $35,700 or $3.50 per pound.

Contributed by David Green

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Sea scallops are found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland, Canada to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  Sea scallops are very prolific.  A single scallop can generate up to 270 million eggs during its lifetime and live up to 20 years. 

Sea scallops spawn in late summer to fall, and larvae grow rapidly.  Between ages three and five years, sea scallops grow to 50 to 80 percent of their shell height and may quadruple their meat weight.  They can reach a maximum size of 6.7 inches in height.  Juvenile and adults sea scallops are a food source for cod, flounder, crabs, lobsters and sea stars.

Currently the Atlantic sea scallop resource is healthy and sustainable.  This fishery is extremely important to our country’s economy and is the largest wild scallop fishery in the world.  In 2009, U.S. fishermen harvested 58 million pounds of sea scallop meats worth over $382 million. North Carolina watermen participating in this fishery in 2009 harvested 382 thousand pounds of meat having a market value of over $2.3 million to commercial fishermen.

The New England Fishery Management Council manages the sea scallop resource in cooperation with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Atlantic sea and bay scallops are filter feeders, meaning they strain plankton and other food particles from water by passing it over a specialized structure that traps food.  Cilia move the food toward the mouth and into the digestive tract.

Bay scallops live up to 26 months and grow up to four inches.  Early in life, larvae attach to the leaves and stems of sea grass. As they mature, scallops sink to the bottom and continue to grow. Environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall, and sea grass health play a critical part in scallop abundance and yearly landings can vary a great deal.

According to the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, the status of the North Carolina bay scallop fishery is “recovering.”  The resource was compromised by a red tide in 1987 and several hurricanes in the 1990s.  Sampling in areas south of Bogue Sound in 2009 showed stock improvements in some areas.  Environmental disturbances and predation by cownose rays may still limit the spawning stocks in the central coastal region.

Contributed by Barry Nash

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The rainbow trout is the best-known species of trout in the world. Beautiful iridescent colors, most vivid during spawning times, have given rise to this species’ common name.

The flesh is normally orange-pink in color due to a carotenoid pigment, astaxanthin, found in microalgae in the diet of trout.  Synthetic astaxanthin can be added to feed used to raise farmed trout.      

Trout aquaculture dates back over 400 years in Europe and over 160 years in the United States.  In 2000, rainbow trout aquaculture accounted for 10 percent of the $1 billion in farmed fish production in this country. 

Native to North American rivers draining into the Pacific Ocean, trout are now farmed across the United States for food and for sport.  North Carolina is the second largest producer of rainbow trout after Idaho.  They are grown in earthen or concrete, rectangular raceways supplied with clean, flowing water.  Without a good source of water, trout farming is impossible.

In North Carolina, Sunburst Trout Company  is among the top rainbow trout producers along the eastern seaboard.  Dick Jennings, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, began raising trout commercially on his grandfather’s land in the western part of the state in 1948. 

Initially Jennings began supplying trout to recreational fishermen, but as the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids became better known, Mr. Jennings began selling to upscale supermarket chains along the East Coast and to high-end restaurants.

Besides boneless fillets, Sunburst also produces caviar, trout sausage, smoked trout spread, cold and hot smoked fillets and encrusted fillets for retail and mail-order customers. 

For more information on rainbow trout production in North Carolina, go to NC Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services.

Contributed by Barry Nash

Originally native to the Gulf States and the Mississippi Valley from Mexico north to Canada, the channel catfish is the most commercially important aquatic species cultured in this country.

In the wild, catfish thrive in fresh and brackish waters throughout the United States.  They inhabit large reservoirs, lakes, ponds and in sluggish streams where bottoms are sand, gravel or rubble.  They prefer clear streams but are common in muddy waters.

Catfish feed day or night near the bottom but will take some food from water surfaces.  Catfish primarily detect food with sense of taste, and taste buds are located over their entire external surface as well as inside the mouth.  In turbid waters where visibility is extremely low, taste is the primary way they find food.

According to the National Fisheries Institute, a global trade organization for seafood processors, catfish ranked fifth among the ten most popular food fish in the United States.  In 2008, there were 28 catfish producers in North Carolina with 1,944 pond acres under cultivation that produced 8.4 million pound of fish.  The retail value of catfish for a major North Carolina catfish processor was nearly $13 million, making it an important commodity to the state’s burgeoning aquaculture industry.

For more information on catfish production, go to NC Cooperative Extension.

Contributed by Barry Nash

North Carolina Fisheries

Wahoo are common to the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The top half of their body is steel blue while their bottom half is pale blue in color. They have a series of 25 to 30 irregular blackish-blue vertical bars on their sides and a large mouth with strong, finely serrated teeth.

Wahoo produce 560,000 eggs (for a 13.52 pound wahoo) to 45 millions eggs (for an 87.1 pound wahoo). The spawning seasons is usually May through October; however, wahoo are believed to spawn year-round in the tropics. Wahoo grow rapidly during their first year or two and reach maturity at two years.

Wahoo commonly attain sizes between 40 and 65 inches in length and have a life span of five or six years. This species are common in tropical waters year round but will migrate to northern latitudes during the summer season.

Wahoo are frequently found alone or in small, loosely connected groups rather than compact schools. They are voracious eaters and typically prey on mackerels, butterfishes, round herrings, scads, pompanos, porcupine fishes and flying fishes.

Wahoo in South Atlantic waters is managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, but are not regulated in the Gulf of Mexico. The population of wahoo in both the South Atlantic and the Gulf is unknown.

Atlantic wahoo has historically been a recreational fishery, but are caught commercially by longliners fishing for dolphin or other pelagic species. Commercial regulations include a trip limit of 500 pounds and a recreational limit of two wahoo per person per day.

For more detail on this species, go to http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/atl_wahoo.htm

Contributed by Barry Nash

Gray triggerfish are commonly found in the Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to Argentina.  They inhabit ocean hard bottoms, reefs and ledges, especially in near-shore and off-shore locations, either alone or in small groups.

A triggerfish’s body is laterally compressed, with tough leathery skin and two dorsal fins. The fish gets its name from the spines on the dorsal fins. The first dorsal fin has three spines that can be locked into an erect position for use as a defense against predators.

The first spine is very strong.  When threatened, the triggerfish will flee into a tight crevice, wedging itself tightly into place by erecting and locking the first spine. When the second spine is depressed it acts as a trigger, unlocking the first spine.

Triggerfish can weigh up to 13 pounds and grow to approximately 30 inches.  They reach sexual maturity at two years of age and can live as long as 13 years.

Triggerfish feed primarily during daylight on shrimp, crabs, sea urchins, sand dollars, sea stars, sea cucumbers and bivalve mollusks.  Juvenile trigger fish are prey for tuna, dolphinfish, marlin, sailfish and sharks. Amberjack, grouper and sharks are known to prey on adult triggerfish.

Triggerfish are important to commercial and recreational fishermen. The flesh is firm and has a very mild flavor.  It is often consumed fresh, smoked, or dried/salted. It is also highly prized as a show fish in public aquarium facilities.

Gray triggerfish do not appear to be threatened at this time according to the World Conservation Union, a global union of states, governmental agencies, and non-governmental organizations that assess the conservation status of marine species.

For more information on gray triggerfish, go to the Florida Museum of Natural History  or the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Contributed by Barry Nash