Shellfish Scoop - Salt Spring Island Mussels

In 1996, Salt Spring Island Mussels was founded. These mussels are started at their hatchery as seed and are moved to their nurseries to grow and eventually are transferred to the mussel farms in the cold Pacific. These mussels are a hybrid species between the ‘Gallo’ mussel, a highly sought-after mussels species native to the Mediterranean and popular in France, Spain and Italy, and the blue mussel, which is native to the Northern Atlantic. 

These mussels are farmed in the waters near the Discovery Islands, as the waters are high in nutrients from ocean current movements and nearby runoff from streams and rivers, making an excellent place for shellfish to grow and thrive. The result is a beautifully coloured and shaped shell with a fresh flavour and high fill of meat inside each shell, making these mussels prized worldwide.

Mussels are cultivated, as are most mollusks in British Columbia, and the Salt Spring Island mussels are grown in the water attached to ropes that are attached to floating rafts. The mussels start as larvae and are fed phytoplankton while they are growing from seed and preparing to be transported to the farm location, and when that occurs, they attach themselves to the ropes, which are made of biodegradable fibers, using byssus attachments, thread-like structures that bind them to these ropes. 

The team at the mussel farms put a lot of work into maintaining the farm’s pristine conditions, including cleaning and maintaining predator nets that protect the mussels and phytoplankton they feed on from bird and fish predators, maintaining the rafts that mussels grow from, and frequently diving to get a look at the condition of the farms from underwater and ensure all is well below the surface. 

Finest at Sea brings in Salt Spring Island mussels every week from our shellfish suppliers, and we keep them in our live tanks which are specialized to maintain the ocean’s temperature, salinity, and PH levels, and the water circulates, oxygenating the water and keeping the shellfish alive. When you purchase mussels in our retail market, they come straight out of the live tanks and into your shopping bag, though we will always leave their bags open so they can access oxygen while you get them home to your fridge. 

Mussels are an excellent source of lean protein and they contain a variety of essential vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin B12. Mussels must be cooked when they are live and you want to make sure they are open when you eat them, but since they come straight from our tanks to your table, they should all open in your pan and taste fresh. Our staff enjoy them with garlic and white wine, with a side of fries or crusty bread. Try Chef Anna’s preparation for a classic dish inspired by French cuisine that highlights and centers the flavour of the mussel.

What is "Sashimi-Grade"?

High quality sushi fish makes all the difference for any true sushi-lover. When buying sushi fish, you want to be looking for what is called “sashimi-grade” or “sushi-grade” fish. But what does sashimi-grade really even mean? In its simplest definition, sashimi-grade means that the retailer intends for this fish to be eaten raw.

Sashimi-grade is a marketing term used to describe fish that is suitable to eat raw, but this term is actually not regulated by any governing agency and is used primarily to promote products for raw use by retailers. This term is usually measured by retailers in terms of food safety processes applied to the fish rather than descriptors like taste, colour or smell, though you should check your sushi fish for these qualities before preparing as well. If handled properly, your frozen-at-sea sushi fish should come out tasting as fresh as it would have straight from the open seas. 

Typically, sashimi-grade should refer to fish that has been flash-frozen to kill any potential parasites that you are at risk of from eating any raw fish. Once this freezing process is complete, the fish can be thawed to eat raw. Most sellers will keep these products frozen so the consumer can choose when to thaw and consume their raw seafood product, keeping the product’s quality intact. Raw seafood is best eaten the day of thawing and can be eaten the day after thawing as well. 

At Finest at Sea, flash-freezing fish at-sea is what we do best. This process is the ideal handling and best practice for sushi-grade fish, as the quality of the fresh fish is preserved when it is stunned, bled and flash frozen within an hour of catching. Sashimi grade is often used by sellers to denote that the product being sold is of the utmost quality. Purchasing frozen-at-sea fish ensures the quality of the fish when thawed will be the same as the quality of the fish when it was caught.

Flash-frozen or frozen-at-sea fish should be stored vacuum-sealed or airtight to preserve the high quality until the time when you want to thaw the fish for consumption. In our retail market, everything you find in our display freezers will be sashimi grade and will come vacuum-sealed for best storage. We boast a selection of prawns, scallops, Pacific octopus, uni, ikura, shrimpmeat, crabmeat, whitefish, tuna, salmon, and smoked fish for sushi. You can also ask our retail staff for sushi fish from the fresh case and we can help direct you to our fish that came from frozen-at-sea and was cut that morning, making it a wonderful option for sushi as well.

Generally, freshwater fish are not consumed raw due to their high risk for parasites. At Finest at Sea, we catch local and ocean-run or saltwater fish, including salmon and albacore tuna, which are very popular for sushi. Tuna is highly regarded as a sushi fish due to its low risk for parasites and sweet, fatty flavour, and some larger species of tuna such as yellowfin tuna can actually be eaten raw without any freezing process required. We always keep our albacore tuna frozen for a pristine quality product and these portions and loins can be thawed in cold water for a workable product within an hour. If you enjoy the ‘toro’, the fatty belly cut from the tuna, be sure to ask our staff when purchasing and we can help select pieces with belly as opposed to the backstraps.

Our retail market has a lovely selection of sushi shelf items to complete your meal. Sushi rice, sashimi soy, Kewpie mayo, yuzu kosho, seaweed jam, inari, wasabi, ponzu, tataki dressing, sesame oil, house-made shichimi togarashi, mirin, chili oils, nori sheets, local kelp seasonings, artisan chopstick sets and top-of-the-line black garlic shoyu are just some ideas of how you can get creative with a local sushi night. When available, we offer a house tuna tataki and ebi (shrimp) sunomono salads with local kelp which make for perfect sides or snacks. Sashimi? Chirashi bowls? Spicy tuna roll? Your wildest sushi dreams can be made true at home with the help of the Finest ingredients. Ask us about sushi today!

And it doesn’t have to stop with sushi: any dish that requires high quality raw seafood products can be made with sashimi-grade fish. Try dressing our raw products with olive oil, flaky sea salt and citrus for a beautiful Italian seafood crudo, or try a refreshing Peruvian ceviche with a lime juice dressing, corn, onion and fresh vegetables.

The Story of This Can

The Albacore tuna in this can was caught within 200 miles of the pristine coast of Vancouver Island. It was caught by captain Mike on FV Malahat II, where is was immediately “frozen at sea” at -60c. Once the freezer was full the Malahat II came to shore. It docked in Victoria’s inner harbour where it was unloaded by our hard working local team. The fish was then transported a short distance up island to St Jean’s in Nanaimo BC. The staff at this locally owned cannery then lovingly hand packed that fish into this can using only salt (and sugar in smoked) as preservatives. The cans came back to us at Finest at Sea in Victoria BC where we sell them in our shop and distribute them to other mindful retailers.

The Finest Fish and Chips

Why Our Fish Is The “Finest”

All the fin fish we sell in our food truck is lovingly and skillfully caught by our own boats and fishers. It is “Frozen At Sea” which means within an hour of being caught the fish has been stunned, bled, headed, gutted, and frozen solid at -60c. Every day those fish are “refreshed” whole in circulating water, expertly filleted on-site, and portioned into generous 5 oz pieces.

 Our fryer oil is changed every day and our chips are hand-cut from BC Kennebec potatoes.

 From the ownership, to the fisherman, fish cutters, and cooks, we LOVE what we do. This care begets quality, and you can taste it in every bite.

Fresh is Not Always Best

At Finest at Sea (FAS) getting quality, sustainable seafood to the public is our top priority. The best way we can accomplish this is by flash freezing fish at sea. All our vessels are equipped with customized onboard freezing systems and freezers that keep the fish at minus 60 degrees Celsius. This allows our boats, like the Ocean Pearl, to be away from port, fishing Sablefish in the deep, cold waters off Haida Gwaii, for upwards of three months.

Immediately out of the ocean, the fish is stunned, bled, headed, gutted and laid on freezer pans specially designed freeze fish solid within an hour of being caught. This system, designed by FAS founder Bob Fraumeni, allows the quality of our fish to be perfectly preserved, and is now considered the gold standard within the industry. Fast freezing leads to smaller ice crystal formation, leaving the flesh of the fish undamaged. The frozen fish is then dipped in salt water to “glaze” it, before it is stored in the fish hold. This glaze prevents freezer burn from developing.

Each morning, before it is filleted for our cases, the Frozen at Sea fish we sell is “refreshed” whole in circulating water. This is the final step in our process, which allows our fish to taste as if it had been swimming in the ocean that morning.

Flash freezing at sea is a complex and costly operation, but the value it adds is evident immediately. When choosing fish, always keep in mind that “fresh” is not an indication of quality. Fresh simply means that it has never been frozen. Also remember that “previously frozen” and “Frozen at Sea” do not denote the same quality. Ask questions of your fish mongers so you always know what you are buying.