If you're stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic and haven't considered getting a delivery of frozen seafood along with your prepared meal services, grocery deliveries, takeout or curbside pickup, now could be a great time. Cost and access might feel like barriers to buying fresh seafood such as fish, crab, shrimp and oysters, but there are a number of online seafood purveyors around the US that can deliver high-quality seafood products straight to your door for less than you might think.
There are plenty of reasons to buy more seafood too. Wild-caught seafood has healthier proteins to consume and is kinder to the planet than beef, chicken, pork and other meats that are largely factory-farmed, injected with growth hormones and submitted to other dubious practices.
"Fresh seafood delivery" is not an oxymoron. A reliable seafood market (or seafood restaurant) with a consistently fresh bounty of salmon, halibut, crab, shrimp and shellfish is a treasure, to be certain, but not every town or neighborhood has one. If you live far from the ocean things get even dicier. It might sound counterintuitive to order seafood online but a slew of new members of the online seafood industry are proving that seafood delivery could actually be the best way to get fresh and affordable seafood to your home -- especially if you live far from fished waters.
Online ordering from these seafood delivery companies offers everything from high-quality salmon, jumbo shrimp, gulf shrimp, clams (and clam chowder), oysters, Cape Porpoise lobster and crab legs but also harder-to-find species like monkfish and grouper. They are all flash-frozen, expertly packaged and delivered right to your door as a one-time order or recurring seafood subscription. The new players are finding innovative ways to ensure freshness and accountability all while supporting sustainable seafood. Many now provide detailed records about exactly where the seafood came from, when it was caught, how far it traveled and what sorts of fishing practices have been employed.
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Sean Dimin, founder of seafood delivery startup Sea to Table, explains how his company has been Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) chain-of-custody-certified since the beginning. Sea to Table goes so far as to have each package of labeled with not only the species but also where that fish was caught, how it was caught and the fishery management body responsible for its sustainability, all the way down to the name of the fishing vessel if available. With the exception of a few species like lobster, most of the seafood you order online ships and arrives frozen or, in some cases, partially thawed. If that gives you pause, consider that much of the "fresh" seafood you're buying at a grocery store has already been frozen and defrosted before being laid out on the ice or wrapped in plastic and that frozen fish is just as good for you -- when handled properly -- as fresh fish is.
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Most of these purveyors, like Sea to Table, freeze immediately and when the seafood is most fresh, which means, in many cases, frozen is as fresh (or fresher) than "fresh." In essence, you're getting some of the freshest seafood, so don't think of fresh and frozen as mutually exclusive. If you live seaside, there's probably nothing better than to go out and buy a few fresh filets from a local seafood market or trusted fishmonger, but for the millions without this luxury, these are a few of the best online seafood delivery companies to order from in 2020. If you want to buy the best seafood online, here's where to go.
Note that this list of the best seafood delivery services to order from online was first created before the COVID-19 pandemic, so some of the companies that are listed may no longer accept new customers or deliver to your area.
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About Wild Alaskan Company: As you might have gathered from the name, this company specializes in fresh wild-caught seafood. It is generally thought to be both healthier and more sustainable than farmed fish, and company founder and Alaska native Arron Kallenberg has set his sights on helping American consumers gain access to good, fresh fish. All the fish is caught either in Alaska or the Pacific Northwest with a commitment to sustainability and transparency.
How it works: The company bills itself as a share more than a traditional retailer or marketplace and offers a monthly subscription. You can choose from salmon-only boxes, whitefish boxes or a combo, and the monthly shipments of fish (frozen at "peak freshness") start at $132 per month for 12 6-ounce portions. You can skip months or pause your membership anytime, for no extra charge.
About Sizzlefish: Sizzlefish has one of the largest selections of fish you can order online, including salmon, grouper, tuna, bass, shellfish, calamari, smoked fish, crab (soft shell crabs, crab cakes and king crab) and much more. Most options are wild-caught but not all, so be careful which boxes or individual orders you place if that matters to you.
How it works: Like some of the other seafood delivery companies on this list, Sizzlefish's inventory can be ordered as a one-time purchase for single species, as a one-time variety box or as a subscription. With all the different fish offered, Sizzlefish has the most options for trying new and familiar species and its prices are competitive. A package of 14 4-ounce servings of wild sockeye salmon, for instance, goes for as little as $104. Note there seems to be slightly less transparency and diligence about where this fish is coming from. All orders ship for free, but with everything sold in relative bulk, most picks are at least $80.
Read more on Chowhound: A guide to types of salmon
About LobsterAnywhere: As the name implies, this company specializes in the tasty crustaceans and ships them live and direct from the cold waters of Maine, the lobster capital of the US. They sell only hard-shelled lobsters, which are more expensive than soft-shell but are also considered to be the best -- so you might be able to find cheaper lobsters in your supermarket, but LobsterAnywhere promises the absolute best in quality. Because of market fluctuation LobsterAnywhere's prices also fluctuate but are generally competitive.
How it works: There are other offerings available like shrimp and scallops, but lobster is definitely the main draw here. You can order a whole live lobster (or lobsters) as well as lobster tails (frozen and in the shell) or lobster meat (shelled) by the pound. This is not a subscription, so you order exactly what you want and it ships in roughly two days.
About Thrive Market: This is less a seafood purveyor and more a wide-ranging marketplace with pantry staples and grocery items, some of which are harder to find. Though seafood options are limited, they do offer a build-your-own-meat-and-seafood box that you can customize to taste. There's not as much commitment to transparency and traceability here, but as a bonus, you can tack a ton of other great products on to your order and save on shipping.
How it works: The Build Your Own Meat & Seafood Box clocks in at $119 and requires you to select three things from a list of "staple cuts," which is mostly chicken and pork, then two selections from a list of "classic cuts," including wild-caught cod and shrimp, and finally one from the "premium cuts" list, which includes wild sockeye salmon, scallops and lobster tails.
About Sea to Table: Americans really eat just a small handful of types of fish at home, according to Sea to Table's Sean Dimin, and one of his aims is to introduce folks to great catches like Atlantic skate, redfish or Dover sole. Sea to Table's fish all comes from US wild domestic fisheries and is caught, landed and processed in the US. To prove it, each pack of fish has a traceability label so you know exactly what you're getting and where it came from, down to the actual fishing vessel that landed it.
How it works: You can choose from boxes like The New Englander, The Kosher Box and The Discovery Box, which features six full servings of fish, including Maine redfish, scallops and skate, starting at just $38 (plus shipping). Choose either a one-time order or a (slightly cheaper) subscription to be delivered every two, four or eight weeks. All the seafood ships FedEx ground, fresh-frozen and packed with dry ice in recycled denim packaging.
About Sitka Salmon Shares: Providing fresh salmon and other fish from the pristine waters of Southeast Alaska, this program is owned by a collective of carefully selected small-scale family fishermen who retain 20% to 30% more of the retail value of their harvest than is typical. Community-based and sourced from traditional fishing communities, everything is flash-frozen at peak freshness and 100% traceable from the boat to your doorstep.
How it works: Sitka is a community-supported fishery and operates more like a community-supported agriculture organization (aka CSA or "farm share"). This means you enroll in the program and purchase a "share" of the harvest in three- to nine-month intervals receiving deliveries that are -- to a certain extent -- at the mercy of what their fishermen catch during any given month. Regular species include wild Alaskan king salmon, sockeye salmon, coho salmon, keta salmon, lingcod, black bass, black cod, Pacific cod, yelloweye, rockfish, spot prawns, Dungeness crab, albacore tuna and halibut.
Each share varies in length and where it falls on the calendar; for example, the Premium Share starts in April and runs through December, while the Taste of Summer Share runs May through August. The fish is priced between $18-$28 per pound depending on which type of share you choose. Sitka then delivers your ever-changing seafood haul to your door monthly. You can cancel or change your order at any time.
About Patagonia Provisions: You might more readily associate this brand with fleece jackets and camping gear, but Patagonia recently got into the culinary arena with its provisions arm. Patagonia offers an array of shelf-stable (until opened) fish, including smoked and cured salmon, mackerel, mussels and more, designed to be taken on boating or camping trips or simply enjoyed at home.
How it works: A pretty straightforward process where you order what you want with items starting at just $7 for some small boxes of mackerel and mussels, all the way up to $399 for a massive Feed the Family variety pack.
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The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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