Striped bass
Whether wild or hybrid, striped bass occupies a special spot on menus across the country
If you’re looking for a fish worthy of top billing at an upscale restaurant but still want the comfort of consistent availability and quality and steady prices, hybrid striped bass is a sure bet.
"The fish sells itself," boasts Mark Zivojnovich, vice president of sales and marketing at HydroMentia, a new hybrid-striped-bass producer in Ocala, Fla.
Scientists first engineered hybrid striped bass in the 1960s by crossbreeding the anadromous wild striper with white bass. But it wasn’t until wild striped bass stocks crashed in the 1980s that farming the hybrid became a reality.
Kent SeaTech was the first operation to successfully raise the species for commercial purposes. The San Diego-based company – the country’s leading producer of hybrid striped bass – now raises about 4 million pounds a year, a far cry from the 400,000 pounds of the mid-1980s.
Now there are around 70 licensed producers nationwide. SeaTech founder and President Jim Carlberg says that his operation and two others – Nature’s Catch of Clarksdale, Miss., and Ekstrom Enterprises of Fort Worth, Texas – account for more than half the U.S. production.
Hybrid striped bass ranked fifth in 1999 among domestically farmed fish in terms of volume, at about 10 million pounds, and came in fourth in value, at about $28 million. Production is projected to top 13 million in 2000.
Still, the industry must overcome some obstacles to sustain its growth. Currently, sales are limited to foodservice outlets, which buy mostly fillets, and the Asian market, which buys mostly live product.
Market expansion is hampered by productions costs. It’s more expensive to culture hybrid striped bass than catfish and tilapia, mainly because the fish require superior water quality and the fingerlings are only available three to four months of the year. Farmers must vary the rate of their stock’s growth to ensure consistent supplies throughout the year.
"We need production costs to come down so we can afford to sell at a cheaper price," affirms Ron Hodson, director of the North Carolina Sea Grant program.
Currently, Kent SeaTech’s prices to distributors are in the high-$2 range and would have to drop to the low-$2 range to draw supermarkets, estimates Carlberg.
Due to increased production costs from labor to power to feed, Nature’s Catch, which raises hybrid striped bass in ponds, was forced to boost its prices 4 percent this month, its first increase since 1997.
The company is coming off a good year. "Our markets have really taken off," says general manager Mike Miller. "Our sales are up 25 percent over this time last year."
Carlberg is "cautiously optimistic" about the industry’s growth. "The outlook is very favorable on the demand side," he insists.
In the meantime, hybrid striped bass "is holding its own," says senior chef Chris Westcott of McCormick & Schmick’s Harborside Restaurant in Seattle. "It does very well, even though it’s always up against local favorites like Alaska salmon and halibut," he says. "The fish lends itself to many sauces. It stands up well to bold flavors."
Westcott deep-fries H&G fish in an Asian marinade with sake, soy, ginger and seasoned flour. The size he uses – 2 to 2 1/2 pounds – is always available. He also serves fillets skin side up, which catches the diners’ eye.
Chefs like Jimmy Lewis of Barbarella in La Jolla, Calif., prize hybrid striped bass for its delicate, slightly sweet flavor and firm but flaky texture. Lewis cooks the fish in a wood-burning pizza oven and features it on the menu about twice a week.
"It’s a very versatile fish," says chef Ronald Tolle of the Loews Coronado Bay Resort’s Market Café near San Diego. "It has a firm texture, consistent size and flavor, and its availability is excellent."
But not all chefs agree. "It’s muddy. You have to mask it with many flavors," contends Andrew Wilkinson, executive chef and part owner of Skipjack’s. He prefers wild striped bass, colloquially known as rockfish.
But only well-connected chefs can get wild stripers year-round, because availability is limited and fluctuates through the year. As a result, wholesale prices vary from $1.50 a pound during gluts to $4 a pound during shortages. In mid-December, fresh whole fish were commanding $2 to $3.
The commercial striped-bass fishery is relatively small. Five of the 12 coastal states from North Carolina to Maine (including Pennsylvania) prohibit commercial fishing for striped bass. Only two states – Maryland and Virginia – have seasonal quotas that exceed 1 million pounds.
The fishery was shut down in the late 1980s after the harvest fell from about 15 million pounds in 1973 to about 3.5 million pounds in 1983. Since reopening in 1990, landings have increased steadily to about 6.6 million pounds worth nearly $11 million in 1999.
By all accounts, the wild fishery’s future looks promising. Based on the positive results of the 2000 stock assessment, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided last month to maintain the 2001 quota and allow states to loosen certain restrictions.
"The resource is rebounding," asserts John DeMaria Jr., owner of DeMaria Seafood in Newport News, Va., who’s been in the wholesale business more than two decades.
That’s good news to chefs, who find striped bass a top seller.
"When the season in Maryland opened Friday [Dec. 1], I had it on my plate that night," notes Wilkinson. The 140 pounds of fish he purchased for Skipjack’s three Boston-area restaurants sold out the next day.
Wilkinson grills 10-ounce skin-on portions with lemon butter and a light crust that seals in the moisture. Skipjack’s charges $17 to $18 a plate.
"It’s one of our top-selling fish," Wilkinson proclaims.
Of course, the same goes for Philadelphia’s renowned Striped Bass. Executive chef Terence Feury gets the fish year-round through a network of suppliers. He prepares 7- to 8-ounce fillets with a butternut squash puree, Swiss chard with ginger and orange confit and cilantro and offers it for $34.
"Anytime there’s a legal opening we’ll have it," says executive chef Mike Cimarusti of Water Grill in Los Angeles. "I couldn’t see not having it on the menu."
Alaska salmon and halibut are the only fish that outsell striped bass at Water Grill, says Cimarusti, who fished for stripers off Rhode Island’s Point Judith as a youngster. Many diners like the fish because they’re familiar with the recreational fishery, he adds.
In Massachusetts, Boston’s Maison Robert and Cambridge’s Harvest offer striped bass six months of the year: New England stripers in the summer and Mid-Atlantic stripers in the winter.
"It’s one of the best fish on the planet," declares chef Jacky Robert of Maison Robert, who broils 7-ounce fillets skin on and scaled and serves them with salt-cod brandade and a red garnish.
Harvest’s executive chef Joshua Foley sautés 7-ounce fillets skin on in butter and rapeseed oil and serves them with salt-cod brandade, slow-roasted tomatoes and kalamata olives. Each $23 entrée provides a 30 percent profit margin.
"It sells very well," he explains. "Striped bass is just going to get more popular, if anything."
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