Maine Shrimp Harvesters - 2005

[johnnyd]

Welcome to my visit to the Portland, Maine Fish Exchange, America's first all-display fresh fish and seafood auction.

The Exchange offers a fair and open marketplace bringing together fishing vessels (sellers) with seafood wholesalers and processors (buyers). Fresh fish and seafood  are unloaded from fishing vessels daily and displayed for buyers to make purchasing decisions.

The Portland Fish Exchange is non-profit and owned/managed by the city of Portland, Maine. It is recognized throughout the seafood industry as a leader in innovation, quality and integrity.

Last night, I had my second visit to the Exchange to see the shrimp boats unload their catch (my first was drastically shortened by battery failure in my new camera... I learn more about this thing every day ) and as luck would have it, who should be visiting that night but the lovely Marilyn Lash from Maine's Department of Marine Resources(DMR). Jackpot! She was a wealth of knowledge and knew all the vessel captains on a first name basis, "Jeez, I haven't seen you in good, long while Hank! Howya been?"

Marilyn was there to take notes on where in the Gulf of Maine the boats had trawled, how long their "sets" lasted, and at what depth they set their nets. This data is used to determine CPUE (catch-per-unit-of-effort) for the specific fishing grounds worked. She also took about a two-pound sample from each boats' haul for analysis at the lab back at DMR. Typically, they will find three or four species (sometimes as many as 9) of shrimp in a sample, but the bulk of the research is performed on the target species, Pandalus borealis, or Northern Shrimp.

"Sooooo, you and the lab guys throw a little bayleaf and peppercorn in a pot of boiling water, right? Very scientific!" I said. She laughed but assured me that much complex analysis occurs (ie: size, egg-count/location) before the remains are fed to various marine life they are holding in tanks for on-going studies at the lab.

The gigantic spool shown here holds the shrimp net on the transom (stern, or back-end of the boat... for you lubbers out there). I don't know how long these are but I have a feeling they're huge. The guys are raising a stack of fish "totes" full of shrimp (note the almost neon red color) to the right of the picture.

Here, the electric pulley has just about hoisted them to where the pier guys can haul them in for weighing. These fish "totes" are tough, polyurethene buckets with interlocking corners that hold a hundred or so pounds of seafood. They take a lot of abuse and are indispensable.

You might have noticed the boat is fifteen feet or more below the pier's edge. The tides in the Gulf of Maine are almost the most active in the world (Bay of Fundy is an eight hour drive away), plus the full moon was a day before, adding another several inches to the low and hightide marks.

Are these guys fast or what?

Just inside the receiving dock, the weigher adjusts the quantity per tote to reflect a constant, say 100 or 80lbs, so it is easier to count during transport and invoicing. Anything leftover is put into a tote and called a "partial". All totes are then tagged with the name of the fishing vessel, date, (and probably something else, but he was too busy to ask).

Digital Scale Station. Everyone is bundled-up, it's about 16.F degrees here! These guys are moving a lot so it doesn't bother them, their core temperature is right up there. Marilyn and I on the other hand are freezing, but I think she can take the cold better than I, she's a born and bred Mainer from Friendship, a fishing town on Muscongus Bay, about an hour and a half east of Portland...

Stay tuned for part two! Comments? Questions?

Edited February 26, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[Chris Amirault]

That is so cool, Johnny! Portland's own Tsukiji market!

Thanks for the photos and insights. My grandfather was a Gloucester fisherman and I remember fondly being down at the docks the few times we visited him as the boats came home. It's an amazing thing, taking stuff from the sea.

[Fred]

Awesome shot's Johnny...wish I was there. I guess I'll have to go home tonight put on my Grunden's oil skins and pretend.

[fou de Bassan]

Thanks so much for the visit! How did you gain access? Would non-commercial buyers be welcome as spectators? Those tides are pretty amazing and so are the fishermen. I really appreciate seafood after seeing what they go through to obtain it.

[johnnyd]

Awesome shot's Johnny...wish I was there. I guess I'll have to go home tonight put on my Grunden's oil skins and pretend.

←

You should hear the old seal jokes among us urchin divers!

Fou: Things were pretty easy-going at the exchange until 9/11. I called last week and asked if I could come take pix and they said I had to sign in, get a pass and an escort. When I arrived, I recognized someone who knew a mutual friend in the Sea Urchin biz I used to be in, so I was let loose.

[liamsaunt]

Thanks for the report and pictures. I went to five different stores last weekend looking for the Maine shrimp, but didn't find any. Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow.

[johnnyd]

Thanks for the report and pictures.  I went to five different stores last weekend looking for the Maine shrimp, but didn't find any.    Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow.

←

Members trying to find fresh Maine shrimp have been sharing their knowledge and frustrations here.

Beyond the simple fact that I find Fresh Maine Shrimp delicious and fishing for anything as pretty damned cool, the purpose of the tour of the exchange and of Gulf of Maine Shrimp harvesting is to broaden the knowledge of consumers to the fact that there are some excellent shrimp available on the doorstep of New England.

A few weeks ago, we had a spirited discussion about foreign/domestic shrimp prices and availability on the Food Media and News board. The prospect of buying a frozen, farmed shrimp vs fresh shrimp was argued to the conclusion that fresh product has too short a shelf life (and too little a harvest) to satisfy the huge domestic demand so foreign product is a necessary element in the market.

The marketplace has established the 21-25 peices per pound sized shrimp as the de-facto restaurant choice for dishes served to customers so the little Maine critters take a back seat in the pecking order... so far. I introduce the argument that when you have fresh local anything, you create a plate that embraces it as it is, taking into account form and flavor. It is in the hands of a (hopefully) creative chef. The rub is taking on existing conventions at the risk of consumer rejection.

The State of Maine is taking a pro-active stance in monitoring and fostering a healthy, sustainable shrimp fishery. The little beasts have been praised by many but are available to few. It is possible that they can join the other high quality seafood that consumers can expect from the Gulf of Maine for years to come... if we just bring them to the attention of the market.

[johnnyd]

Visit to Portland Fish Exchange 2-24-05 @ 21:30 - Part Two -

Here are totes of shrimp lined up for inspection by buyers a half hour before auction time.

There are still a couple boats that need to off-load their catch...

... and a freeloading sky-rat looking for a snack...

When the pier guys are backed up, they go even faster!

To offer a closer look at these animals, I took a couple of pictures without flash and with flash and the resulting color contrast was remarkable:

...a little closer (but a bit out of focus, sorry)...

...but these, almost the same view as above, look like they're on fire!

Look at those eyes! Just so you know, there were more than a few jumping around in these boxes. I got ya fresh shrimp heyah, right heyah! Note also a collection of grayish eggs around the abdomen area. These are quite tasty.

Marilyn at DMR sent me an eMail last night with a bit more about shrimp analysis at their lab...

From time to time, we also do fecundity (reproductive potential) work-ups, as well as taking a look at egg development to determine approximate time of hatch (the diameters of eye spots [which can be seen on the developing eggs] are measured; by plugging these eye-spot diameters, and the temperature of the water from which the gravid shrimp were harvested, into a formula, the time of expected hatch can be approximated)

She also sent me an interesting paper on the life cycle of Northern Shrimp,

Northern shrimp are protandric hermaphrodites, first maturing as males and later undergoing a transitional phase from which they emerge as adult females.  Throughout their life cycle, Northern shrimp migrate between inshore and offshore waters**.  Hatching of larval shrimp occurs in winter/early spring after egg-bearing females have migrated inshore for the purpose of hatching their eggs.  Once the larval shrimp have hatched, the larvae remain in these inshore waters during which time they will metamorphose to the juvenile stage.  Around the late autumn of their second year (at about 18 months of age) offshore movement of these juveniles commences, and migration of this group is complete by the following May.  At approximately 2.5 years of age these shrimp, now  fully functional males, will spawn.  Over the course of the 12 months that follow they will remain offshore, undergoing the gender transition to female.

Once the gender evolution is complete, the now fully mature female shrimp continue to inhabit offshore waters where they will spawn in the summer of their third year.  During the fall and winter that follows, the now egg-laden females will make the journey to inshore waters where their eggs will hatch. The females who survive the harvest season as well as the forces of nature will again migrate offshore to return the following season with a new brood to hatch

Here is the actual Auction room at the Exchange where buyers raise numbered paddles when lots of fresh shrimp come up for bid.

Not very interesting really, until you think about how much seafood is bought and sold here in this room, then you realize the chances are pretty good you yourself have eaten at least one fish invoiced on these tables.

That's it for the auction house. Marilyn at DMR has sent me lots of info on Maine's Best Kept Secret which will require sifting through before posting. Next up: a look at area retail fish markets who sell fresh Maine Shrimp. These will be posted on the Fresh Maine Shrimp; where d'you get yours? thread as it is most relevant there. Anyone who sees and can snap a photo of Maine Shrimp for sale in their area should join in and post their pics there too!

Questions? Comments? See the Where d'you get yours? thread also for what I and other eGullet members have been cooking up with Maine Shrimp!

Edited February 26, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[ghostrider]

Fabulous reporting!

Marilyn Lash is from Friendship? We have a cousin & his family there. We drive out there every year. He is a former violin maker who found there was no money in it & moved back to Maine & became a lobsterman. Yes, he's got stories!

I guess I've cooked many an "H" fish (halibut/haddock & the occasional piece of hake) that's come through the Exchange. This is all fascinating.

[docsconz]

Super job, Johnny! These shrimp are delicious. I managed to enjoy a few earlier this season. They look a lot like some shrimp I saw last fall in the markets in Basque and Catalan Spain. Any idea if these same shrimp are also caught on the other side of the Atlantic?

[johnnyd]

Super job, Johnny! These shrimp are delicious. I managed to enjoy a few earlier this season. They look a lot like some shrimp I saw last fall in the markets in Basque and Catalan Spain. Any idea if these same shrimp are also caught on the other side of the Atlantic?

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Interesting question. The folks at the DMR lab have established that there are usually 3 or 4 species of shrimp per sample, sometimes as many as nine. It is the northern atlantic environment after all so before I dig into Marilyn's info to find out more, I'd speculate that they are pretty much the same. Especially since you recognized the similarity between the two.

I introduce the argument that when you have fresh local anything, you create a plate that embraces it as it is, taking into account form and flavor. It is in the hands of a (hopefully) creative chef.

Doc, did you have any dishes while in that area that included local shrimp? If you did, were they prepared in a way that reflects Catalan/Basque cuisine?

Edited February 27, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[johnnyd]

Here is my favorite Seafood Purveyor here in Portland, Harbor Fish Market.. They get fresh shrimp the morning after the Auction and sell it out of fish totes for about $1.79 per pound.

Unfortunately, I seem to arrive (three times now) a little too late to take a picture of these totefull o' shrimp and have to settle for a tray of heads-off shrimp at $3.99/lb

Regular tigers are to the left.... but who cares about those??

[Bond Girl]

Johnny, these are wonderful pictures. I am very envious that you get to have such great sea food. Keep it coming!

[johnnyd]

Anytime I start thinking of Fresh Maine Shrimp I have to go get some. I went back to Harbor Fish Market today and last night's auction yield was sitting right in the middle of the store...

So I got the ever ebullient Zach to bag up five pounds for me...

Some were still wiggling! Zach also gave me some 1/2lb plastic containers so I could freeze small batches for use during the rest of the year.

As I exited Harbor Fish, I had to capture the wildlife down on Portland's wharf. Harbor Fish has a collection going at the register for wharf kitty welfare. Not so the sky rat further down the walkway who has made off with a plastic fish container.

Edited March 16, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[docsconz]

Super job, Johnny! These shrimp are delicious. I managed to enjoy a few earlier this season. They look a lot like some shrimp I saw last fall in the markets in Basque and Catalan Spain. Any idea if these same shrimp are also caught on the other side of the Atlantic?

←

Interesting question. The folks at the DMR lab have established that there are usually 3 or 4 species of shrimp per sample, sometimes as many as nine. It is the northern atlantic environment after all so before I dig into Marilyn's info to find out more, I'd speculate that they are pretty much the same. Especially since you recognized the similarity between the two.

Doc, did you have any dishes while in that area that included local shrimp? If you did, were they prepared in a way that reflects Catalan/Basque cuisine?

←

Just got back to this thread. Unfortunately most of the shrimp that I saw were in the markets and not on my plates - at least not in a way that specifically stands out in my memory now. That is not a slight on the shrimp since I had soooo much good food there.

[richardv]

Hi,

I read about your flash/no flash dilemma and I took the liberty to enhance the non-flash version of your shrimp photo and put it side-by-side with the flash version.

All I did was a simple "color balance" adjustment in Photoshop and a little sharpening.

Here it is at the small size some prefer:

or at a more reasonable size to view:

I hope it was OK to edit your image.

Obviously (to me) the available light version is preferable because of the even lighting. However, I'm a big fan of flash with bounce for food photos but now I have a Canon 20D and using ISO 1600 is perfectly fine and I've begun to annoy my dining companions much less by using available light instead of bounced flash.

I still travel with a LumiQuest omni-bounce hood for my flash though.

[johnnyd]

I have to say these look splendid. I realized the disparity between flash and non-flash simply by looking at the photos on playback mode on-site. It was so striking I had to throw them up here. Thanks for your illuminating edits.

John