CHATHAM, MA – The mechanical whir of the Chatham Fish Pier lift is swiftly followed by a dull thud and whoosh as dozens of dogfish slide down the metal chute and into a large plastic tub.
Devon Walsh immediately begins shoveling ice on top of the fish, while a digital readout keeps tabs on their temperature, which is already chilled by ice on board the boat.
Until recently, most fishermen here didn’t ice down the dogfish they caught, even though doing so gives them a slight edge in a fishery that’s already marginal, netting only around 12 cents a pound.
Tim Wood photos
Devon Walsh shovels ice onto a tote of dogfish immediately after the fish are hoisted off a boat, which had already iced down the fish while onboard. The chilled product has a slight edge in the marketplace, with potential to improve the return on sales to fishermen. Red’s Best Seafood, which has leased the bay on the north side of the Chatham Fish Pier, installed two ice-making machines at the pier, one of the ways it is working to promote locally caught fish.
Providing the ice, thanks to newly purchased ice machines, is one way the pier’s most recent tenant, Red’s Best Seafood, is working to promote locally caught fish.
The Boston-based company has partnered with Wholesome Wave to …
Read the rest and much, much more in the December issue of Commercial Fisheries News. Read online immediately and download for future reference.
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