The Fish on Fridays series is a collaboration between Gloucester photographers Kathy Chapman and Marty Luster. Look for various aspects of Gloucester’s centuries-old fishing industry highlighted here on Fridays.
Last weekend Kathy spent time in NYC. While she was there checking out the migratory art scene in it’s latest hot location of the Lower East Side, she stumbled across this fishmonger. There were great prices on whole fish: red snapper, hybrid striped bass, scup, butterfish, but what is that long shiny fish out in front?
Photos © Kathy Chapman 2013
http://www.kathychapman.com
Good Morning Gloucester 
Although I grew up in the NY area, I never went to a local fish market. But I did eat a lot of fish that my grandfather and I caught in the Great South Bay. Maybe stories about that soon.
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So did I with my Grandfather. He kept his boat in Amityville, and I grew up in Massapequa Park. Great area for fishing.
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Fred – One the folks I quote quite often and consider a very dear friend lives and runs Modern Warrior in Lindenhurst – retired Sgt from NYPD now…not too far from Massapequa. about 8 miles or so away?
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Which fishmonger are these from? Do you have a name? I want to sell them fish.. 🙂
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Orchid Street, Lower East Side (LED). I will get a close address for you.
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To be a little more specific, the fish market was on Mott just north of Canal.
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Nice fishmarket layout – in my days 60’s People used to go to lanes cove and when George Morey – Duke Terrada would bring the dory in loaded and fresh The Old Englanders (Whiting), mackerel, flounder, squid talk about fresh. Or from “Sam the fishman in his cushman break like truck” made the rounds of the cape…Used to tease us kids and say he had cat fish and meow Thanks 🙂
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Is the long thin fish a perch??CC
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Another guess was Florida Lady Fish.
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I was curious about the hybrid striper: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_striped_bass
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Here’s the word on those skinny ones from my schooner pal Bill Hamilton who happens to live near Gloucester, NJ. “Those are Atlantic Cutlassfish, Trichiurus lepturus, pretty odd fish that are bony and not often eaten. This is a pretty odd fish that occasionally enters bays and inlets along the East coast in large numbers, maybe to spawn. At other times you’d be hard pressed to find one. Don’t buy any unless you have really good filleting skills. Never tasted one myself, usually had better fish to fry.”
In ‘Fishes of the Gulf of Maine’ it says they inhabit the surface waters of tropical seas. Accidental stragglers north of Cape Cod. There is a recording of one taken in Salem Harbor many years ago. I would be curious to know if any of our local fishermen have encountered any, and where.
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I remember we used to catch a lot of these off the break wall or in the cove Cunners. Most times folks threw them back in kept the mackerel or flounder if you were lucky may even get striper. I have pulled up crabs, horseshoe crabs, on a rare occasion when bottom fishing a lobster may claw your line – but many times let go once they break the water surface. Us kids learned the hard way never to reach into rocks and places you can not see in like going after the crab that crawled in there but may have company also yikes!
schooner39 you can reach me at davesam55@yahoo.com if you like my email.
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Thanks for researching and clarifying that Al. Local fish market was stumped.
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