Mahimahi

Suppliers increase their frozen offerings to make product available year-round

Mahi has everything going for it. It’s an excellent eating fish, with sweet, lean meat that regularly wins raves from chefs across the culinary spectrum.

In Tucson, Ariz., the Tack Room gets $28.95 for its Pan Roasted Costa Rican Mahimahi.

Hawaii’s award-winning chef Sam Choy, on the other hand, charges $12.95 for Oak-grilled Hawaiian Mahimahi. Of course, at that price Sam’s mahi is not from Hawaii, but his guests don’t know that. When it comes to mahi, it’s all about the marketing.

Mainstream restaurants like Red Lobster make the most of fish like mahi to give an upscale boost to their menu. Guests can order Seared Mahimahi Porto-bello or Teriyaki Glazed Mahimahi if they want an alternative to the chain’s typical Shrimp Feast or Lobster Fest fare.

It’s hard to find a seafood chain or even a steakhouse that doesn’t serve mahi. At the Outback Steakhouse, mahi is frequently served as the Botany Bay Fish O’ the Day, lightly seasoned and grilled. Other steakhouses, like Cowboys Steakhouse in Navarre, Fla., take a more down-home approach. They fry mahi and serve it in a basket, just as they do grouper and catfish.

Although most mahi is sold at foodservice, retailers are making more money with it, too. In Southern California, Costco, the largest club store chain in the United States, has started selling         3-pound bags of frozen, vacuum-packed, skinless, boneless mahi portions for $10.99. 

As popular as mahi seems to be, though, surprisingly, the amount sold in the United States has increased only slightly, to about 20,000 metric tons annually. So far this year, mahi imports are off by about 10 percent.

If mahi is so popular, why haven’t imports soared? It helps to know a little more about the fish.

Mahi are extremely fast-growing and migrate through the warm waters of the world. They start spawning at 1 1/2 years of age, and die at 4 or 5 years.

To grow their average 8 pounds a year, mahi are voracious predators. They feed in a narrow band of water, and if the temperature changes only a few degrees, the mahi are there one day and gone the next. This year in Costa Rica, for example, a “splash of warm water chased the fish out, and the season ended in March, two months early,” says the country’s largest mahi processor. 

El Niños are also bad news for mahi catches along the west coast of Latin America. The warm waters cause the fish to move farther offshore, beyond the reach of most mahi fishermen, most of whom fish in small boats.

While mahi is a popular fish, catches can be erratic, so fish farmers have tried hard to take advantage of mahi’s low food-conversion ratio and fast growth rate. Fish farmers in Hawaii claim to be able to raise mahi to an amazing size of around 20 pounds in just a year for less than $2 a pound.

Despite more than a decade of effort and the apparent success of some small farmers, large-scale commercial farming of mahi remains more dream than reality, in part because the price of mahi drops like a rock during the peak season off Ecuador and Costa Rica, which usually runs from November to April.

The ex-importer price for fresh skin-on, bone-in fillets, for example, typically drops from almost $5 a pound to below $2 a pound in January when landings normally peak. 

Supply outlook

There may not be more mahi overall, but there are certainly more frozen mahi fillets available, as Latin American producers try to smooth out the bumps in supply by offering their customers frozen product on a year-round basis. One processor in Costa Rica, which has a far-ranging fleet that targets mahi well offshore, estimates about half his production is frozen now, whereas five years ago almost all of it was sold fresh.

From 1998 to 2001, the annual import volume of frozen mahi fillets from Ecuador and Costa Rica has grown from 650 metric tons to 4,250 metric tons

The switch to frozen has allowed Ecuador to displace Taiwan as the leading U.S. supplier of frozen fillets. Out of 8,200 metric tons of frozen fillets imported in 2001, Ecuador accounted for 3,000 metric tons, followed by Taiwan at 2,500 metric tons and Costa Rica at 1,300 metric tons.

A sudden end to the mahi season this spring led to a moderate decline in frozen mahi fillets in early 2002. Through May, frozen mahi imports were 5,000 metric tons, off 5 percent from the same period in 2001. Fishing ended earliest in Costa Rica, where exports were down from 890 metric tons to 380 metric tons.

Through May, imports of fresh mahi from Ecuador, the primary source of supply, were running about the same as last year, at about 3,000 metric tons, while exports from Costa Rica, the other primary source of fresh mahi, declined about 30 percent, down to 2,500 metric tons.

 After a record year in 2000, landings last year from Hawaii’s mahi fishery, which has seasonal peaks — from March through May and from September through November — declined about 33 percent to a more normal level of almost 400 metric tons.

Look for mahi supplies to pick up again late this fall, as landings from the Ecuadoran and Costa Rican fleets pick up. Unless a significant El Niño develops later this year, landings and supplies of both fresh and frozen mahi should be similar to those of last year.

Price trends

A lackluster foodservice market kept fresh mahi prices at their lowest level in years this winter. However, by spring the quick end to the season led to a sharp rise in prices. This January, importers were selling fresh H&G mahi (10 pounds and up) for about $1 a pound, f.o.b. Miami, about 30 cents a pound less than last year and 80 cents less than two years ago.

By March prices had risen to almost $1.90 a pound, about 25 cents a pound more than last year’s price. By June, mahi was almost $3 a pound, nearly double last year’s levels.

Meanwhile, the price of fresh, skin-on, bone-in fillets, which could be picked up for $1.80 a pound, f.o.b. Miami, in January, had risen to almost $5 a pound by June.   

The price of frozen mahi portions fluctuates widely, depending on the quality and type. At the top end, high-quality, center-cut, skinless, boneless mahi portions have been selling to foodservice operators for about $3.50 to $3.80 a pound, f.o.b. Miami.

Smaller 4- to 6-ounce portions cut from the tail can be picked up for $2 to $2.20 a pound. Two- to 4-ounce off-cuts, ideal for menu items like fish tacos, were selling for as little as $1 to $1.50 a pound, f.o.b. Miami. 

This summer, the price of frozen mahi fillets was all over the board, as some producers attempted to unload product to generate cash flow. Frozen, skin-on, bone-in fillets were selling to distributors for anywhere from 90 cents to $1.35 a pound, depending on quality. Frozen, skinless, boneless fillets (a.k.a. “sticks”) were selling for $2 to $2.50 a pound, depending on size.

Several suppliers now offer frozen, vacuum-packed, skinless, boneless mahi fillets that have been treated with tasteless smoke and, in some cases, carbon monoxide. The tasteless-smoke fillets are a good value at $2.95 a pound to distributors. 

Barring a strong El Niño, look for fresh and frozen mahi to sell at similar prices in 2003. 

Buying tips     

As is the case with many fisheries in developing countries, the quality of mahi varies considerably. Because mahi can cause histamine poisoning if it is not handled properly, buyers must take extra care that they are getting good, safe product.

Most buyers say the quality of mahi from Ecuador tends to be more inconsistent, which is supported by the fact that fresh H&G mahi from Ecuador typically sells for a discount of 15 to 20 cents a pound, compared to Costa Rican product, and Ecuadoran fillets sell for a discount of about 30 cents a pound.

Good-quality H&G mahi should have brightly colored skin, with yellow flecks along bright silver sides. Skin color that is uniformly gray and faded is an indication of age.

The best mahi fillets have a red bloodline along the fish’s lateral line, and a pinkish tinge to the meat. Lower-quality product has a brown bloodline and a pale-gray meat color.

While tasteless smoke can maintain the pink color of a high-quality fillet, carbon monoxide can be used to turn a poor-quality fillet with gray meat and a brown bloodline into a more attractive reddish-pink fillet, so make sure you buy from a reliable supplier.

Though mahi producers are putting up more frozen fillets, there are still some great buys to be made on fresh mahi in January and February.

Culinary notes

Think of mahi as a chameleon that can be used in a wide variety of applications, from fish tacos and fish sandwiches to more elegant entrées. Mahi is versatile because it’s a relatively lean  but meaty fish that stands up to strong flavors. At Wild Tuna, a popular new Manhattan restaurant, guests can order Mahimahi Calabrese, which has a tomato-based sauce loaded with Italian flavors, including olives, caper berries, oregano and dried cherries.

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