Cowichan Bay Seafoods
Crabs!
Goodness me the prices have sky rocketed in the last few weeks haven’t they? Superstore in Duncan is asking 19.98 a pound for live dungeness crab right now. In Vancouver, recent price spikes have seen figures well over the 22 dollar mark. Some speculate that it will go past 25.
It’s not that dungeness crab is scarce, fishers are reporting good results again this season.
Metal Gates Guard Front Door
The high prices are all due to international trade. The Orient has a voracious appetite for our delicious seafood and diners in the finest Shanghai and Tokyo restaurants are willing to pay as much as $100 a per plate to enjoy it. Jumbo jets leave Vancouver International Airport on a daily basis, carrying our seafood carefully stowed in refrigerated boxes.
With such stiff international competition, it’s mighty difficult for the local seafood enthusiast to get his or her fork in.
Fresh and Lively
Cowichan Bay Seafoods has an answer to this problem however. They sell live dungeness crabs at what was the original going rate of 12 bucks a pound. Yes you read that right, they sell the same live crab that costs 22 dollars a pound in Vancouver and 19.98 in Duncan, for 12 bucks a pound. In fact it’s not quite the same crab, it’s better. It’s pretty much straight off the boat, up the dock and into the tank. No middlemen. That means tastier, nicer crab meat.
They can do this because they are fishers first, seafood vendors second. If you own the boat that chases the catch, you get to set the price. Cowichan Bay Seafoods has decided to set that price well below market value at their Cowichan Bay location. Better to sell out while giving a “discount”, as opposed to not selling any while sticking to “market” prices.
The Spot Prawn Festival is coming up this weekend. The weather forecaster is calling for sprinkles on Sunday. Activities will go as planned of course, we are Wet Coasters after all.
Oh and the Spot Prawn price? Where to buy? HOW to buy? (For cash is not king at these dockside sales!) Latest information here.
