There”™s nothing fishy about Vito Formica leaving his house at 2 a.m. He”™s on his way to the Fulton Fish Market, picking up orders. The fishmonger, who makes the daily trip to New York City, has been on both ends of the industry: as a retailer and now as a wholesaler.
After he has collected his fish, Formica”™s own trucks roll out of Formica Wholesale Fish in Central Valley “at 8:50 a.m. every day.”
Formica (pronounced FOR-mick-a) is the “skipper” at his office and refrigerators housed in a former train station on Valley Avenue.
Formica estimates he sells between 10,000 pounds and 15,000 pounds of fish and shellfish each week throughout the tri-state area.
Has the Gulf of Mexico disaster affected the marketplace here on the Northeast coast? “Not really,” said Formica firmly, “but it”™s affected the Louisiana fish industry and the people who work in it, particularly those who depend on oysters and any kind of seafood found close to shore. Fish aren”™t going to swim into a plume of oil. Most of them will swim under it or avoid it altogether.”
Robert Bronisevsky, picking up a delivery for KNS Distributors in New Jersey, agrees. “Production in the Gulf is minimal ”“ that is why we are seeing so many imports. Even if they are American ships catching fish within a country”™s boundaries, it must be labeled as a product of that country. That”™s why we are seeing so many imports; production in the Gulf is minimal and most of its trade depends on neighboring states: Texas and Florida. The fishermen who depend on seafood close to shore ”“ clams, oysters and the like ”“ are the ones that are truly devastated by this disaster.”
Bronisevsky said the Gulf”™s current is “too strong for fish to spawn in it, but along the coast, it”™s a different story.”
Formica picked up where Bronisevsky left off: “We are seeing a lot of birds and other animal life covered with oil, but there are no dead fish washing up. They”™re avoiding the area.”
Bronisevsky believes the disaster could have been averted were more stringent regulations in place. “These refineries are outside the boundary waters and oversight was lax. We”™re going to see big changes as a result of this nightmare.”
And it will be a nightmare for the Louisiana fish industry for “years to come,” said Formica.
While the spill was man-made, “other disasters can disrupt marine life,” said Bronisevsky. “Underwater earthquakes and eruptions also create havoc.”
“How it has affected the northern markets is Florida and other warm water states find it much easier to ship their product to the Gulf states than to bring it here, so we are seeing an uptick in prices for products for fish and shellfish from those waters,” said Formica.
Overfishing has also caused prices to rise, “and the government is trying to do something about it,” said Formica. “Cod was once one of the most economical fish to buy; now, it is nearly $8 a pound wholesale.” Popular fish are the old stand-by, salmon, and newcomer tilapia, which originates in Africa”™s Lake Victoria, but most sold here are farm raised in Ecuador and Honduras.
Shellfish, particularly clams and oysters, are in high demand during the summer months, although the old adage to avoid eating shellfish in months without an “r” in it does hold true, said Formica. “But clams, oysters, crabs and lobsters can come from colder climates, where they”™ve already shed their old shell and grown a new one. The only time anyone wants seafood in a soft shell is when it comes to crabs ”“ that”™s a delicacy. When other types of shellfish have soft shells, the meat is mush.”
Formica is in bed by 6 p.m. He picks up orders that come in after closing time from the company”™s answering machine. “Some people wonder why we are closed in the middle of the day,” said Formica with a grin. “They don”™t realize we”™ve already had a 12 hour day by 2 p.m. and most of our deliveries are completed by 10 in the morning. We all have to sleep sometime.”
