Fish mongering is an old trade. It's an art that's passed down. There is so much to learn because there are so many fish in the sea," says Steven Kraus, manager of Gadaleto's Seafood Market in New Paltz. Indeed, simply standing before the cornucopia of fresh and frozen filets, whole fish, shellfish, and live lobsters in a large retail fish store is enough to cause confusion.

Seafood, long considered a healthy food choice, has become so riddled with questions and concerns that many diners now avoid it altogether. However, if shoppers know what to look for, it is possible to find fish that is fresh, delicious, sustainably raised, and ecologically harvested. 

A porgy at Gadaleto's Seafood Market

True, fish is a savory, low-fat source of animal protein, and full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, but fish can also be contaminated with mercury, lead, PCBs, and pesticides such as DDT. Our own Hudson River is also a source of fish, and popular with anglers (although the Department of Environmental Conservation recommends eating not more than one meal per week of sport fish caught from the Hudson River). Seafood is also highly perishable. However, while no one could consider the Hudson Valley a seaside region, we are fortunate to be in close proximity to the largest fish market in North America—the Fulton Fish Market in New York City—and we're not that far from New England waters, either. Most of the fish we consume, however, is commercially fished or else farmed, and both practices are suspect at best. Commercial fisheries use a variety of methods and gear; some of which are considered environmentally friendly, others downright destructive. Dredging, for example, involves dragging a heavy, metal-toothed frame along the seafloor to catch bottom-dwelling shellfish such as scallops, clams, and oysters. Dredging ensures a bountiful harvest of shellfish, but also causes significant habitat damage, and many fish, sharks, sea turtles, and other marine life are unintentionally caught as "bycatch," the term for fish and animals accidentally caught and discarded overboard, dead or dying. (Worldwide, for every pound of shrimp hauled in there are three to fifteen pounds of bycatch.)

Fish farming can be a responsible and—in many cases—more sustainable choice, but not all fish farms are created equal. Most farmed salmon are raised in crowded pens set in the ocean and they produce tons of feces, spread disease, and need antibiotics and other drugs. On the other hand, farmed oysters, clams, and mussels filter tiny plankton out of the water for their food and require no supplemental feeding—leaving the water cleaner than before they arrived. What works well for one species does not necessarily work well for another. Happily, there are many guides available to help you make conscientious decisions (see below).

Josh Kroner, chef and owner of Terrapin Restaurant in Rhinebeck, has taught classes through SUNY Ulster on how to buy and prepare fresh fish. The biggest tip Kroner offers retail consumers: "Know your fishmonger." He explains, "Fish rather slowly transform from being super fresh, to not so fresh, to downright rancid." And while no fish purveyor would knowingly sell a bad piece of fish, in a world where the biggest financial loss is in how much fish is thrown away, it is simply good business practice to sell the oldest pieces first. Befriending the fishmonger and becoming a regular customer is one way to hope to receive the freshest pieces. Kroner also suggests planning meals around whatever your fishmonger recommends, rather than shopping with a fixed menu in mind. (The concept of substitution works equally well for choosing a well-managed species as opposed to a depleted one: Farmed striped bass easily replaces red snapper, Pacific rockfish, or orange roughy.)

It is Kroner's opinion that frozen shrimp are a better choice than fresh. "The quality of shrimp deteriorates dramatically in one day," says Kroner. He describes how big shrimp boats are outfitted with processing units so shrimp are frozen immediately after being pulled from the water. "The public perception of frozen is bad, but in this case it preserves freshness," he says.

Cherrystone clams at Gadaleto's

Kroner purchases fresh fish for Terrapin (for such dishes as his lauded horseradish-crusted sushi-grade ahi tuna with miso aioli) from True World Fish—a Japanese company based in New Jersey that he discovered after phoning several sushi restaurants. He says he prefers True World Fish because it has direct contact with the fishermen aboard boats and bypasses the wholesale market. This brings the fish from Japan's waters to Kroner's table with minimal delay. Sustainable fishing practices also affect which fish Kroner buys for the restaurant. Because farmed salmon, Chilean sea bass, and swordfish all fall under the "avoid" heading of the Seafood Watch list, Kroner will not serve them. Instead, he regularly serves grilled Alaskan wild salmon, and occasionally, bluefish or mackerel, which he purchases in small quantities, enough for about 15 plates at a time.

"Fish mongering is an industry built on loyalty and trust," says Steven Kraus, of Gadaleto's Seafood Market—a New Paltz-based retail store, restaurant, and wholesale supplier to many area restaurants (including the French Corner in Stone Ridge, Calico's in Rhinebeck, Ugly Gus in Kingston, and Beso in New Paltz). Twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays at 1am, owner Steven Gadaleto climbs into his big white truck and drives to the Fulton Fish Market (now in the Bronx) to hand-pick fresh fish from an array of vendors. He makes this journey as his father and grandfather had done before him since 1945. Frozen fish and shrimp are shipped to Gadaleto's from major fish houses in Boston, and live lobsters arrive twice a week direct from Portland, Maine. The entire inventory rotates twice a week.

Kraus says a big clue as to the quality of the fish is in its presentation. If fish is well iced and presented beautifully, it's probably also handled well behind the scene. A good fish purveyor, says Kraus, is constantly rinsing and re-icing his fish. This keeps bacteria to a minimum and helps fish look their best.

Tips from Kraus to the retail shopper: For whole fish you want to see clear eyes and red gills, and the flesh should be firm, not squishy. Fillets should be moist, and should smell fresh and clean like the ocean. Fish and shellfish should never be sitting in water. There should be no off-color: If the flesh is red, it should be red, if it's white, it should be white—browns and yellows are not a good sign. Shellfish should be tightly closed, not open. If the shells are open, they should close when touched. Mussels should be set on ice in net bags so they can drain. Hearing a hollow sound when tapping an oyster shell is not good. Lobsters should be lively, not limp—you want to see some gusto, so if it tries to raise its claws up at you when you approach, you have found yourself a good dinner. Perhaps the biggest trick to win a fish purveyor's favor is a warm greeting. "Say hi to the fishmonger, and he will point you in the right direction," says Kraus. 

At the end of January, retail shoppers will start to see detailed country of origin labels (COOL) beside their fish at large supermarkets. COOL was implemented by the US Department of Agriculture and is intended to provide consumers with more information about the foods they eat. All fresh seafood—including shellfish, filets, steaks, and king crabs—will have their source country prominently displayed along with the current notation of farmed or wild (frozen and prepared are exempt). Seafood manager Joe Longendyke of Adams Fairacre Farms in Kingston believes this will save time for the staff as these days more and more people request the information.

Fish from all over the world arrive at Adams every day at 8am on trucks from Boston, and all fish are inspected by Longendyke before they are accepted. He has been Adams' seafood manager for 12 years, following 13 years as chef at Mariner's Harbor seafood restaurant in Highland. As Longendyke says, he knows fish. "I've used the same 10 to 12 wholesalers since the day I got here," he says. "No one tries to pull a fast one, and if I have any questions they take it right back."

Jeffrey Gimmel, the owner and chef at the Swoon Kitchenbar in Hudson, buys fish from sources that are as local as possible,  with shipments arriving by overnight delivery from seafood purveyors in Nantucket two to three times per week. He avoids fish from South America, the Far East, and warm Pacific waters. Less travel ensures the fish have been out of the water for a minimum of time, and Gimmel prefers the brinier flavor of fish from cold Atlantic waters, such as Maine cod, scallops, sole, and in summer and fall striped bass. The salmon on Swoon's menu is farm-raised organically in Scotland, and their Atlantic cod is hook-caught as opposed to trawl-caught.

Both Gimmel and Kroner are looking forward to the bounty of the late-winter Maine sweet shrimp season, in which tiny shrimp swim into the inlets and coves in New England and are caught by hand-tossed nets. Gimmel likes to serve these shrimp as sashimi with a spicy sauce, or he will poach them with white wine and shallots for 20 to 30 seconds.

Joe Logendyke, Seafood Manager at Adam's Faircare Farms in Kingston, filets an Anarctic char, a close relation of salmon.

John Novi, chef and proprietor of the Depuy Canal House in High Falls, says, "Fishmongers have come a long way since I started 37 years ago." When he began, he had one source for fish and that was frozen. Fresh fish of any sort was a special order. However, Novi advises, frozen fish isn't terrible, and on occasions when a fish he wants is only available in 20 pound shipments he will freeze the extra to be used for secondary dinners and benefits. Throughout winter, Novi receives fresh fish on Thursdays and Saturdays. With so much to consider, selecting good fish from the bad can be a confusing experience, full of conflicting information. There are, however, several online guides to help you make quick, smart decisions while at the fish counter. Try www.thefishlist.org, www.seafoodchoices.org, or www.oceansalive.org. (Oceans Alive also posts consumption advisories for fish which should be eaten in limited quantities or not at all because of contamination.)  The most detailed and convenient list of safe and unsafe fish is produced by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, at seafoodwatch.org. The Northeast Seafood Guide for 2006 prints onto one page and folds to the size of a business card, to be tucked into a wallet for easy reference. Fish are listed under the headings "best choices," "good alternatives," and "avoid." Enjoy halibut or sole from the Pacific instead of those from the Atlantic which are caught with bottom-damaging trawlers, advises the Guide. Mahi mahi, Pollock, and farmed rainbow trout all make good replacements for grouper, which have depleted stocks and high levels of mercury; and instead of the over-fished and bottom-trawled monkfish, try farmed catfish or tilapia. According to the Seafood Watch, shrimp from the US are generally good alternatives to imported sources as regulations on equipment and practices are more stringent.

Whether you're purchasing a whole porgy at the seafood counter to grill over an open fire, selecting caviar at the Hanson Caviar Company in Kingston, or choosing between imported swordfish (not good) and farmed catfish (very good) at a local restaurant, the choices you make as a consumer matter. Shrimp scampi tastes that much sweeter knowing the nets that caught them were built to allow endangered sea turtles to escape unharmed.