Seafood distributors sold more than a half-million pounds of blue catfish to the region’s foodservice industry this past year. That’s double the amount of this invasive species they were able to move the year before, says Steve Vilnit, director of fisheries marketing for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Fisheries Service.
Wholesale distributors across the region have embraced the invasive offering, advertising it to retail outlets as an inexpensive and versatile whitefish that is good to move from Chesapeake Bay tributaries to local plates.
John Rorapaugh, director of sustainability at ProFish, said he’s been amazed how quickly the fish has gained popularity among his buyers.
His company went from selling 500 pounds three years ago to more than 300,000 pounds — the most of any local wholesaler — this past year.
“That doesn’t happen. There’s not usually a new product that comes out and gets that much traction,” he said.
Not that catfish are new, per se, to their seafood offerings. ProFish has long sold farmed catfish but only began selling the local stores of wild blue catfish around 2010.
That’s when Vilnit approached Rorapaugh to pitch the invasive species as an affordable whitefish that, when caught and sold, helps balance the Bay’s ecosystem. CONTINUE READING….
.