


is a seafood company
dedicated to bringing you only the very highest quality of ECOLOGICALLY
SUSTAINABLE
SEAFOOD harvested in the great Pacific Northwest. Our company specializes
in all aspects of DUNGENESS CRAB, purchased directly from over 100 top Washington
fishermen, as well as from docks in British Columbia, Alaska, and Oregon.
We supply live, pot-caught Dungeness Crab 12 months of the year. Our unique
open-system aquarium tanks, located on Elliott Bay in Seattle, holds live
crab, which are stored without additives or synthetic feeds of any kind.
Whether you are a wholesaler looking for a consistent, top-quality
crab and shellfish supplier, or someone looking for that perfect crab feed
or box of premium Pacific Northwest seafood, our company is here to serve
you fully. Please check out our products to the left, for descriptions, pricing,
shipping and ordering information!
is rooted in the dreams
of a few friends who wanted to start a seafood company that would not just
talk the talk, but WALK the WALK of providing people with healthy, sustainable
seafood: good for fishermen, good for ecosystems, and just delicious for
eating!
The company was founded by M. Brendan Mahaffey in 1998, joined by wife Katharine
Cissna in 1999, and helped along every step of the way by philanthropist
and
entrepreneur W. David Wilkinson, who has recently joined the company as a
full partner. Our company has grown
by specializing first in one product so that we could be the best at that,
incorporating other products in only as we are able to do so with excellence,
and with accountability to the environment, and to our suppliers and consumers.
Our company would be nothing without the relationships we maintain with
our
fishermen and dock managers, and the teamwork that has developed in our multi-lingual
crew here at Crab Fresh.
Dungeness Crab is one of
the most sustainable seafood products available in the marketplace today.
Crab-pots are more selective than most net or line fishing gear, and there
is less mortality. This is a LIVE fishery, meaning that the crabs are alive
when harvested, and all female, juvenile or undersize crabs can be returned
to the sea ALIVE. Returning the females and juveniles alive means that Dungeness
crab stocks have a much better chance of maintaining themselves than in other
fisheries where such selectivity in harvesting is not yet achieved. The Dungeness
fisheries in all regions of the Pacific Northwest require that all pots have
a biodegradable line that disintegrates to allow the pots to open, greatly
reducing "ghost fishing" of pots that become cut from their lines and sink
to the sea bed. In addition, most Dungeness fisheries are regulated with limits
on the total number of pots any boat may use, and all employ closures of fishing
during molting/spawning seasons. In most Dungeness fisheries, limited entry
permits ensure that there is a cap on the total number of boats going out
to fish. While this is not true for Indian fishermen in Washington, because
every member of a tribe has a legal right to harvest crab and other shellfish
(Rafeedie Decision, 1995), the Indian crab fishermen catch less individually
(on average) than the state fishermen. In fact, the Monterrey Bay Aquarium
lists Dungeness Crab on its top group of ecological seafoods in its consumer
chart, and Dungeness were also lauded during the Congressional hearings prior
to the passage of the Sustainable Fisheries Act in 1996. Fishermen from Washington
and Oregon have begun the process of obtaining certification of Dungeness
Crab from the Marine Stewardship Council. In short, this is a product we feel
very good about offering to consumers. It is the more so because at Crab Fresh,
we maintain a vigilant eye on the Dungeness fisheries in which we actively
participate, both as buyers, and as stakeholders in fishery management. The
other products that we offer include pot caught Spot Prawns and cultured molluscan
shellfish (clams, mussels and oysters), also listed on the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's
top list, as well as some Washington gill-net harvested salmon, some Washington
long-line salmon, and some live, pot-caught finfish, including ling cod and
lemon sole from British Columbia, in season. In each case, we know who the
harvesters are, where the product comes from, and what methods they use to
bring us top quality, responsibly harvested products. More information about
our ecological standards and our accountability to ensure these standards
are met will be available at this site soon!
Best Fish Company, LLC
Doing Business As
CRAB FRESH
2130 Harbor Ave S.W.
Seattle, WA 98126
1-877-777-CRAB
