This week, in addition to yellowfin tuna, fresh sea scallops, and backfin crab meat, Locals Seafood is delivering striped bass. These striped bass are farmed on the Pamlico River in eastern North Carolina, at NCSU’s Pamlico Aquaculture Research Facility, which is studying the viability of striped bass as a farmed species in our state.
Farmed fish have gotten a bad reputation due to unhealthy, environmentally dangerous practices, such as the farming of salmon in crowded net-cages in the ocean. Fish farming is not necessarily bad for the environment, however, and some fish thrive in more crowded conditions, resulting in a healthy product raised without need of antibiotics. Water can be recirculated in growing tanks, and wastes can be filtered out and used as fertilizer. The North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, which runs the Pamlico facility, has a mission that includes conserving and improving the state’s natural resources and environment and improving the health of North Carolina’s citizens. We also carry local farmed tilapia from Taylor Fish Farm, trout from Sunburst Trout Farms, and catfish from Carolina Classics Catfish.
Striped bass (a.k.a. rockfish) has a firm white flesh that’s perfect on the grill or sauteed in a pan. The fish are antibiotic and GMO free and are a non-hybrid fish. You can watch a short video showing a fish harvest at the Pamlico facility and processing by Locals Seafood, here. Look for striped bass in stores tonight and through the weekend.