by Catherine Schmitt There are fish in these rivers. In the Kennebec, the Penobscot, the rivers in between and either side, the alewives are running. I wrote a story about alewives for the May 2012 issue of Fishermen’s Voice, well before alewife season began. Now I want to see the fish. Yesterday I stopped by the […]
Read more
by Catherine Schmitt On a recent cloudy April afternoon, Jamie Johnson was up to his elbows in sole, black bass, and halibut. Johnson is a manager at Jess’s Market, a busy seafood supplier to the Midcoast region. Johnson married into this family fish market business, but his knife skills and product familiarity suggest he’s found […]
Read more
Today’s post is from Sarah Redmond, our new resident seaweed expert, who recently attended a “Cooking with Sea Vegetables” event at Five Seasons Cooking School, a small demonstration kitchen set up in the home of Lisa Silverman, a whole foods chef, cooking teacher, and wellness coach. Silverman is a graduate of the Kushi Institute, a retreat […]
Read more
by Catherine Schmitt A few weeks ago I promised more information on buying and preparing Maine shrimp. Well, whaddya know the season ended last Friday. So, for those of you lucky enough to have snagged a final pound (or two, or three…), I’ll offer some final words until next year. I picked up some fresh shrimp […]
Read more
by Catherine Schmitt With the addition of Sarah Redmond, our new marine extension associate, we are fast expanding our research and extension into seaweed aquaculture in Maine. This is exciting to me because I like to eat seaweed (especially nori and seasnacks and dulse) but some of the commonly available prepared sea vegetable products are […]
Read more
by Catherine Schmitt I haven’t yet been smelt fishing this year, but now that it seems cold enough for the rivers to actually freeze, I’m getting anxious. Rainbow smelt are a native, sea-run species that are good to eat (the fresher the better) and fun to catch–at night, in a shack suspended above a frozen tidal […]
Read more
by Catherine Schmitt Shrimp season is upon us, and with big cuts in catch limits, winter-hungry souls should waste no time getting their share. That’s what I was attempting to do a few weeks ago, when I stopped by a Portland fish market to pick up a few pounds of Pandalus borealis. However, instead of […]
Read more
by Catherine Schmitt Earlier this month, I joined my Sea Grant colleagues from around the Northeast on a tour of Matunuck Oyster Farm & Bar in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. I had met the oysterman, Perry Raso, last June, and was excited to see his farm. I was also interested to see whether and how […]
Read more
by Catherine Schmitt Our friends at Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Maine Aquaculture Association successfully kicked off this year’s Harvest on the Harbor with a mid-day seafood event featuring “lesser-known, yet abundant and well-managed species,” which GMRI is promoting with its Sustainable Seafood Project, and salmon, cod, mussels, oysters, and seaweed raised in Maine […]
Read more
by Catherine Schmitt A great time had by all at the eleventh annual Pemaquid Oyster Festival on Sunday. The warm, sunny weather helped bring people out to the coast, although oyster aficionados don’t need much more enticement than thousands of fresh-from-the-river Crassostrea virginica. This year’s event featured an oyster-shucking contest, won by Maine Sea Grant […]
Read more