Fresh Flounder                 
Fishing continues to be strong in the south with high volume landings. The raw material market will remain stable heading into the holiday weekend. Current inventory consists of trawl caught product harvested in Atlantic Beach, NC.
  
Black Bass          
The market has begun correcting itself after a major spike in the market due to shortage of supply. Trap/pot vessels are beginning for find the fish while trawl vessels are still searching as the fish head inshore. Availability for the weekend will be strong on all sizes. Current inventory consists of pot/trap caught product harvested in Ocean City, MD.
     
Monkfish           
Landings at the Boston Fish Pier continue to be strong. Steady pricing heading into the weekend. Current inventory consists of trawl caught product harvested in
             
Blue Catfish      
Fishing continues to be strong up and down the bay
     
Wild Striped Bass   
Limited availability until the beginning for June.
   
Mahi         
Stable raw material this week with minimal changes to cost heading into the holiday weekend sales. Availability will be strong.
  
Grouper        
Domestics:  
· Poor weather in The Gulf this week has caused availability to be limited late week.
Imports:  
· Brazil continues to harvest and Mexico season is in full swing. Anticipate the market to continue to come off. New inventory available for weekend sales!

Farmed Salmon                  
Canada – Pricing will increase as the market recovers from the Mother’s Day pull.  We “should “start to see some pricing relief over the following weeks.   
Ora king- Fish are available with stable pricing.   
Chile – Pricing is down with availability starting to increase. We will see pricing stabilize next week.   
Euro Salmon – Look for pricing increase next week after Mother’s Day weekend.   
 
Snappers 
New arrivals all week long from Texas, all sizes. Strong 1-2 availability.
 
Golden Tilefish:  
East Coast vessels continue to harvest as long as the weather allows. Local day boats have slowly started harvesting as we continue into fishing season.
 
Atlantic Halibut
Atlantic halibut is climbing fast ahead of the holiday this weekend. With little fish due in at the end of the week, this will continue to rise.
 
Pacific Halibut
Stable pricing and availability expected through the end of the week. This will become the more affordable option by Saturday, however the fish are smaller (10-20lb avg).
 
Wild King Salmon
Several seasons are open now, including the Washington coast, a small part of the Oregon coast, and this year we will see sporadic openers in the state of California! These are head-on troll caught fish, sustainably rated, and coming down a bit in price for this week. For those of you interested in Alaskan fish, those seasons start in June with the exception of Copper River which produces absolutely gorgeous fish but at boutique pricing.
 
Wild Alaskan Sockeye
Copper River has announced their first opener to take place for 12 hours on May 22nd! This is the run that kicks off the season and is often considered the most beautiful fish of the year. These too go for a boutique price point which substantially falls with each opener through the beginning of the season. Copper River runs through June but there will be other areas opening in the following weeks including other parts of Prince William Sound and some areas in Southeast AK.
 
Sablefish aka Black Cod
Beautiful Alaskan black cod are landing all this week from Petersburg in Southeast AK. If you haven’t tried this mid-range price point this is a great week to jump on board!
 
Lakefish
Usually, we see a drop off in popularity for these species after Lent and particularly ahead of Mother’s Day, however they remain great options for tender, white-meat fillets, especially Walleye which offers enough size to make a larger portion for a sandwich or center of plate.
 
Swordfish
Beautiful double marker swords are landing from Ecuador, Costa Rica & Louisiana. Prices on the rise for the weekend. Great fish for the grill as we start to see some warmer weather.
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Tuna
Some Beautiful yellowfin tuna arriving from Costa Rico, Panama & the gulf of America this week. Strong landings causing prices to ease this week even with diesel prices increasing. quality is looking great!  Wild bluefin tuna arriving from New Zealand this week as well at affortable prices.

Live Soft Crabs
Local soft crabs in good supply this week for mothers day.  Whale & Jumbos from NC, VA & MD.  take advantage of this seasonal delicacy!

Iceland
Long line boats working hard landing beautiful cod, haddock & plaice. limited supply: prices have ticked up as we saw Easter demand & now spawn closures all last month. Fishing grounds are back open with better landings expected this month.  Strong demand remains this week holding prices currently

Live Lobster
The live trade market remains stagnant prior to Mother’s Day. Price structures have continued downward on all sizes across the board; this however has not helped ignite the market. With lower catch volumes and windy weather in the Canadian zones to begin the week, there could possibly be a slight disrupt in the supply chain .
 
Crabmeat
Fresh Crabmeat
Maryland- daily shipments arriving from the MD crabmeat plants in good volumes.  High winds this week could limit supply for late week? Jump on this beautiful crabmeat!
North Carolina – is Fresh picking in limited amounts. It is not expected to be a strong supply for a few weeks. Prices are very strong due to high diesel prices & high live market demands.
Columbian - Very limited small shipments arriving a few times a week. Prices are strong and quickly rising. small quantities of Jumbo Lump & super lump. Great quality!
Venezuela - limited amounts of R/F lump in house but that will come to an end very soon. NOAA’s importing embargo of Venezuela began Jan 1st, prohibiting seafood imports from Venezuela & other countries if they can’t verify that no marine mammals are harmed by their fishing gear. Some countries have been cleared like Indonesia with catch reports & methods, yet Venezuela is still trying to get their approval. We are hopeful but currently have no indication on how long this will take or how long it will take NOAA to review & approve it, so we wait. There are plenty of alternative options available in the cooler to cover your needs.
Pasteurized Crabmeat
Blue Swimming Crab- This category continues to experience rapid price increases due to several factors: tariff impacts, poor landings in Indonesia, the Philippines, and India, all during very strong demand & of course the loss the Venezuelan crabmeat supply. As higher-priced containers arrive and inventories’ cost-average upward, pricing pressure is expected to continue. Most importers are facing limited availability, and the combination of weak landings, pressure at the beaches, and high demand is driving an extremely strong market. Expect ongoing supply constraints and rising prices throughout spring & summer.
Red Swimming Crab- High tariffs and poor landings have pushed prices sharply higher, particularly on jumbo lump and jumbo, with lump now following suit. Relief is not expected in the near term, as many buyers have shifted into this category seeking lower-cost alternatives.
Mexico- Mexican pricing has risen quickly as demand spilled over from the Indonesian market. Many have moved to this option. Unfortunately, Mexican conservation has started for May & June so this option has dwindled.
Colombian- Supply is extremely limited. Landings have been extremely small. Small volumes are available.
 
Oysters
‍‍‍Always on Feature and only at JJ McDonnell:
Skinny Dipper & Huckleberry Oysters
St Jerome’s Creek, MD
OYS200 & OYS060
For the best shell quality, quintessential Chesapeake flavor, and the cleanest oyster in town, choose Skinny Dippers for your printed menus. Always fresh and in stock! For a cocktail option, Huckleberry is a perfectly plump cocktail, and fun fact, they are the same age as a Skinny Dipper! Some oysters just never reach the size of a full, select oyster.
 
Happy Oysters
Northern Neck, VA
OYS250
Sweetgrass and butter with just enough brine and a clean finish. Tidal surges create a perfect environment for healthy, happy oysters!
 
Salt Buoy Oysters
Brockatonorton Bay, MD
OYS245
All the salt you would expect from Maryland’s Atlantic coast, with a crab-like sweetness to finish. Float-raised cocktail shells are perfect for easy shucking.
 
Fortune Oysters
Wine Harbour, Eastern Nova Scotia
OYS218
A pop of salt from the North Atlantic! Smooth, salty, savory, and sweet meats in clean, solid, choice shells.

Domestic Shrimp
Most shrimp prices remain steady.  The opening for inshore peeled season in Louisiana will be determined this week.  Should be soon.  Typically, peeled prices go down at the beginning, but with high diesel prices I do not expect prices to drop unless production is really good.  
Headless production remains very slow with high diesel prices.  We expect some white shrimp production to pick up as boats that out come in for the Texas closure on May 15th.  
Pink shrimp production is good, but very few boats are fishing.  So, they remain very tight.  
Obviously, we need fuel prices to come down to pick up effort on shrimp.