I love Blue Sea and Red’s Best

I’m always disappointed when I get to the fish counter or frozen fish section of the grocery store and only find fish and shrimp from a world away. Thailand, Singapore , and Chile often dominate, and I always wonder, with so much ocean right outside our doors, why there isn’t much Massachusetts seafood available.

As a result, I was really excited to receive an invitation to the Boston launch of i love blue sea at Red’s Best on Boston’s fish pier. Have you heard of i love blue sea yet? Before I received the email I had not, but once I started reading, I was interested in learning more.

Here’s what their website has to say:

i love blue sea is a company formed by fishermen, surfers, dreamers, foodies and entrepreneurs.

We believe that businesses based on the ocean should first do no harm to it. We have developed relationships with oyster farmers, crabbers, and fishermen and women who run their own boats and are braving the waterways to bring you the freshest, most responsibly sourced seafood available.

You will know when your seafood was caught, where it comes from, and if you’re so curious, you can find out the name of the ship and how the harvest is going. When the ships come to shore, you’ll receive seafood straight from the boat.

i love blue sea is working with Red’s Best, a seafood distributor with product from networked fishermen. Red’s Best gathers together fish and shellfish from fishermen in the New England area and then processes it and gets it out to restaurants and i love blue sea. Because Red’s Best works directly with the fishermen, they develop trust and relationships that work for both parties. These relationships ensure that fishermen are paid good wages and that fish is coming from reliable and reputable sources  This also allows for traceability of your seafood. QR codes on the packaging allow you to find out when the fish was caught and where, along with information the fisherman who caught it.

The event with i love blue sea was held right inside Red’s Best fish storage and processing area. While we took in a ton of great information, we snacked on fresh oysters, clams, and a delightful, lemony lobster salad.

Red’s Best has fish coming in every evening, and the night of the event was no different. A truck with a variety of different species arrived and was unloaded before our eyes. It was definitely like no other party I have attended, and all of the bloggers there agreed that it was one of the most interesting events ever.

After we watched all of the fish get unloaded from the truck, we got to go into the cooler to see where they would be stored for the night.

Throughout the evening we learned about some of the fish and shellfish that come in to Red’s Best, including conch, lobsters, flounder, fluke, monkfish and scup. Scup, we learned, is a delicious, sustainable fish that is sometimes referred to as sea bream. This fish is not common in the market, yet it’s plentiful, easy to prepare, and would be cheaper than a lot of other options. It’s all about the marketing!

i love blue sea makes it easier for all of us to have access to these smaller fishing operations. Their website features all sorts of delicious-looking sustainable specialties that you can order online and receive in an eco-friendly package the very  next day. I’m already planning on ordering a gift from the site this week. I love that i love blue sea allows me to support sustainable practices, local fishermen, and a healthy, delicious food option.