Grouper Sandwiches: Disappearing From A Menu Near You
The last time we wrote about grouper, we passed along tips from the Florida Department of Agriculture to tell if the grouper at your favorite restaurant is a fake. We didn't quite realize how bad the problem is, however, until an article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune gave us a rundown of the industry.
There are five species of Gulf Coast fish now being overfished, including the wildly popular gag grouper.Three years ago, a grouper sandwich was priced at about $8.95. Now, it can run you $13 or more, with restaurant owners paying $11 to $13 per pound for fillets.
Just in the last two years, the price has risen nearly $3 per pound, says Wil Stutzman, the general manager at the Dry Dock Waterfront Grill on Longboat Key.
The price of whole grouper -- what fish houses pay to fishermen -- rose about 20 percent from 2003 to 2006, to $2.91 per pound, the Florida Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing reports.
This year, area fish house operators say they are paying about $3.20 per pound, representing another 10 percent increase in the last year.
It appears that the prices are only going to go up. There's a bit of blame to go around everywhere: increased regulation (some of it necessary to keep maintain fish populations), waterfront development that's destroyed habitats, an increase in the number of recreational fishermen, and, let's not forget, a few bad hurricanes. The commercial fishermen blame the recreational anglers, and vice versa. All we know for sure is that grouper prices are only going to go up, so much so that the fish may be priced out of most restaurant menus. And if you do find it on a menu for what looks like a really great deal, it's frozen, foreign or not even grouper at all.
Grouper Crisis [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Grouper, And The Fish That Want To Emulate It [MP: South Florida]
Photo: Flickr
