May 12, 2009
How well do you know the fish you just paid for?
Sure, it’s easy to tell the difference between a tuna steak and a fillet of salmon, and even easier, shark vs. grouper or trout, but what about halibut and turbot?
Turbot? Huh? Exactly. That’s what a fish broker just got arrested for after an investigation by NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement. Turns out he was selling turbot – a flatfish native to marine or brackish waters of the North Atlantic – as halibut.
I haven’t tried turbot myself, but fortunately for us here on the East coast, most of his sales took place in Utah and Texas, so it’s a pretty safe bet you’re getting what you pay for here on Shem Creek – and I’ve never heard otherwise.
But I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that the buyer was getting packaged fish, because as soon as I saw what turbot looked like, I knew I’d never confuse it with halibut, but flounder? Now that’s a different story!
Lori Murphy, of Myrtle Beach, is all smiles with her record-size 13 lb. 5 oz. Atlantic Sharpnose Shark, because she now holds S.C.’s first Marine Gamefish State Record!
She caught it aboard her & her husband’s 21′ Sea Chaser boat when they went out Saturday before last. They had trekked 55 miles offshore from Murrells Inlet to fish near the Winyah Scarp when she caught it.
This smart angler knew immediately that her Sharpnose was a keeper, so she contacted DNR and had it weighed in when they returned to shore. David Player, a fisheries biologist with the Marine Resources Division in Charleston, met Lori at Seven Sea Seafood in Murrells Inlet to verify and certify the catch, and now she’s in the gamefish record books.
Congratulations Lori!
