Buying albacore off the docks...

Hey Guys,
 Do any of you know when and where I can buy commercial albies from the boats as they come in to HMB? Any idea how much they charge? Anybody I can call to find out? I seem to recall that if you buy them whole, they're cheaper...Thanks!
 Andrew

I don't know about HMB, but up here in Bodega Bay you can (depending on the season) buy crabs, salmon, and albacore off the docks from either the fishermen themselves or from the fish packers.   The fishermen are a little cheaper, but harder to find while the fish packers are almost always there.  Whole fish are almost always much cheaper than fillets or steaks etc..  They haven't brought any albies back to Bodega Bay this year yet as far as I know, but the salmon are pretty available right now.  For a price comparison.. a whole salmon will cost you about $5/lb off the boat and $6/lb from Pisano Bros.  A wild california king salmon steak at Whole Foods will cost you about $20/lb.

A few years ago when salmon were abundant, farmed salmon were starting to flood the market, and the consumer didn't know any better the price got down to less then $3/lb.  I ate a lot of salmon that year.

Okay, so that probably wasn't so helpful to you other than to point out that yes, whole fish are cheaper.  Good luck on finding a fish.

Brian

try calling the harbor - I think this is the # 650-726-5727.

http://www.smharbor.com/pillarpoint/

Try buying it only on weekends.  The guys on the boats will not be there on weekdays.  Also, shop around because $$$$ can very.  Takes a little leg work.  But, HNB harbor is small.

Ken kickfish

Cool, thanks guys!

I tried buying some at S dock in Santa Cruz and the fisherman said that no one has any fresh albacore only smoked stuff.

I ended up trading a fillet of halibut for nice quarter of albacore from a fisherman who had a good day of albacore fishing at the cleaning table this past sunday.

I will post if i get wind of anything fresh albacore comes in...

Alex