Squid Strike....Timing is everything
Yesterday the Southern California squid fishermen voted to go on strike. This allows the guys to go home for Thanksgiving without the rest of us fishing while they are gone. One buyer has dropped the price...ours has not. Needless to say, Steve is not happy.
The alternative is to put on the sardine net and go fishing for sardines at $80.00 per ton. The squid price has been excellent ( $ 550 @ t ) and the world market is wanting lots of squid at that price. Some fish buyers are wanting more money in their pockets. So Steve will be putting on the sardine net in San Pedro, and be out for sardines tonight.
The Seattle Times had an article on squid jigging in Puget Sound yesterday (Nov 25th) as well as some
delectable recipes developed by renowned chef, Tom Douglas.
The recipes include one for fried squid..made famous at the Bite of Seattle, and the other for "Charred squid skewers on garlic toast with arugula." Also, there are excellent diagrams on "How to clean squid"
When my son Adam was ten or so, I taught him how to clean squid. My daughter had some friends over for dinner that night and Adam matter-of-factly showed them the process of squid cleaning while brandishing the tentacles at them with the enthusiastic flourish of a fisherman with a newly acquired skill. The girls screamed and fled the kitchen with Adam & squid in pursuit.
Many thanks to my friend and Farmers Market volunteer extraordinaire, Connie Ivey-Pasche for alerting me to the squid article " Tasty Tentacles".
Links???
Slow Food USA is the nationwide group. An article by Roger Downey features the Seattle group.....
Slow Food Seattle
Slow Food and Squid
Today there is an article from the Midwest on the origins of the Slow Food Movement.
http://www.jsonline.com/Entree/cooking/nov03/185083.asp. There are 65,000 members worldwide. The premise is to enjoy food, buy direct from farmers and fishermen, and prepare it from scratch with love for family and friends. Seattle has a Slow Food Chapter and I will try to find the link.
November 22-University Farmers Market... Last One
November 23-West Seattle " " ....Last One
Steve and crew caught 30 tons of squid last night in an area I was urging Steve to look at a week ago. By looking at the Sea Surface Temperature charts put out by NOAA, one can tell whether or not the water temperature is cool enough for squid to come up to the surface. They like 57 degrees F. There are four weather buoys in the general area of the Channel Islands and I check their reports as well. The cool water is finally pushing down from the North and it bodes well for greater squid harvests. We have to carefully observe the MPA's or Marine Protected Areas around the Channel Islands.
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/channel_islands/
Albacore invigorates Ilwaco
Our homeport since 1992 has been Ilwaco, WA. at the mouth of the Columbia River. We have watched the port suffer through years of bleak revenues...short salmon seasons, closing businesses. But now it is very much alive and kicking. In the summer there is not an empty slip...anywhere, and the albacore comes in by the thousands of tons. Read further here:
Steve and the Papa George gang caught 15 tons last night.
We had a very busy two days at the Farmers Markets last weekend. The weather was with us and our customers were stocking up. My new neighbors on Sunday are the Nahcotta Oyster Co. from Willapa Bay, WA. They have lots of Pacific oysters...$5 @ lb
