It is the first Friday of Lent and many of you will have seafood on the menu, but it might be harder to find this year.
As parishes across the country serve up Catholic-friendly meals they may be struggling to get the same cuts of cod or catfish they usually serve. The owner of Dixson Seafood Shop in Illinois explains the struggles, which are similar to the supply issues we have seen in beef and pork.
According to Jim Dixon, “They had to have certain spaces which curtail production to the point that my main supplier has dropped about eight items off his product line, and my guy in Oregon has stopped selling anybody east of the Mississippi River. And so, that all affects what’s available on the market, and of course, costs go up.”
He says that every week a new issue seems to pop up.
Right now, items like catfish and salmon are considerably more expensive than last year. On a side note, he says that jumbo scallops are nearly impossible to find right now. That is because the government has started regulating what size of mollusk can be caught in certain areas.
Related:
Seafood industry receives long-awaited pandemic response
World Trade organization on international fishing subsidies
Louisiana’s aquaculture is still dealing with hurricane damage
