Supporting People and the Ocean with Oregon Albacore Tuna

The average person, when thinking about Oregon seafood, or Pacific Northwest seafood, may think about Dungeness crab, wild chinook salmon, oysters, perhaps the Oregon coast stops as you drive down the Pacific Coast Highway 101 and see signs for clam chowder and fish and chips. Make no mistake though, Oregon Albacore Tuna is an important catch of the Oregon’s fishing industry, and if you are making a checklist of all the bounty of the Oregon Coast, you should be specifically seeking out Oregon albacore in your food goals of tasting what our west coast has to offer. In doing so you will also be supporting local fishing families and sustainable seafood practices.

I recently went on a media tour with the Oregon Albacore Commision and learned so much, and wanted to share it with you so you can also make your own informed decisions. I am not being compensated for this – I want to share my education on how to practically support local and those who care and want to be good custodians of our environment and ecosystem.

If you are interested in taking a seafood tour yourself, look for a Shop at the Dock tour during the summer which like my tour, is led by Oregon Sea Grant from Oregon State University – shout out to Amanda Gladics for her teaching me so much (pictured below to the left) and Jeff Wong of Community Supported Fishery for taking time for us as well to tell his origin story as independent fisherman tale. You can also find workshops via Shifting Tides.

Oregon fishermen are a network of almost all local, independent fishing families, some of whom have been part of the fishing industry for generations. Most of the boats are smaller than you think – 30-50 feet long, with a crew of maybe 5 people are less. Specialized equipment, fishing expertise and safety knowledge is needed because the boats must go out 30 miles or more offshore, so those who make a living as fisherman have made an investment financially and of their time to build the maritime professional proficiency.

Oregon albacore tuna is caught one at a time, by hand, using hook and line fishing methods such as a tuna troller (educational pdf) or live bait jigging (video example) – no nets and by-catch mortality of seagirds and other marine mammals and other harmful effects of driftnet (Wiki article) which happens outside of Oregon and are the opposite of sustainable fisheries management practices and have negative consequences to the ocean ecosystem. It is important to support with your choice of where you spend your money those who are promoting alternative processes to prove out that they can be successful and as consumers we prove it matters.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries directory, Pacific Albacore Tuna is not overfished and is being sustainably managed and responsibily harvested under US regulations and has minimal habital impact. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program lists Albacore on their Best Choice/Buy First list. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) notes that sustainably managing fish stocks are a win for the ocean and for humans, for the fish to be more productive and for millions of people in coastal communities who depend on fishing for employment and food security. During this tour, I learned that there is a respect and gratefulness that many fishermen have for the lives this profession take, but also all that the taken lives support, from catch to transport, production, and all the people in between from ocean to table.

This is not true for all albacore you may purchase, but Oregon Albacore is caught young, usually when they are 3 – 5 years old from their lifespan of 10 – 12 years, which is before their reproductive age. The tuna have not accumulated much mercury and still are rich in omega-3 oil – three times as much Omega 3s as any other type of tuna. The main season when the North Pacific albacore migrate to the US west coast from Japan could be from June through October. During that time you may even see signs along different towns on the Oregon Coast and have the opportunity to purchase directly from the boat at the ports from the fisherman. The Albacore fishing fleet is around 350 boats working from 13 ports along the Oregon Coast. Here’s two example boats outfitted with Albacore Tuna equipment.

Oregon albacore is usually fresh from smaller fisherman at the docks, or fresh-frozen at sea for larger boats because of the offshore distance from land. Some boats will bring the albacore to be processed in local businesses, varying from loins, tuna belly, etc. sold frozen or in pouches or in cans from microcanning operations where the albacore is placed raw in the can and cooked once in it’s own juices. This is unlike larger commercial operations where the tuna might be cooked twice, losing juices and flavor. Here’s an example where we compared from top to bottom, the canned tuna from Bumblebee, Wild Planet Foods, and CS Fishery.

You can see how much more watery already the flavor will be from the more mass produced, twice cooked albacore versus the natural juices as you get to the local microcanned version. The can might retail a little higher in price, but you are getting it back many times in quality.

Are you concerned with the fish being frozen? Don’t be! OSU taste tests recently showed that consumers and chefs can’t tell the difference and frozen seafood performs better than fresh! Technology has changed in ability and quality to freeze at sea using blast or brine freezing, and the time from the seafood out of the sea to frozen versus “fresh” and stored and traveled to be processed (and possibly thawed and refrozen and thawed again), to finally in your hands may be significantly longer and deteriorate the seafood much more. Frozen fish might not just be better quality, it also means you can enjoy it year-round, and helps fishermen weather demand through different markets economically and harvest yields.

The firm and juicy albacore meat usually works well in a variety of food preparations, from canned, barbecued, smoked, grilled, sauteed, raw for sushi or poke – so many possibilities with this flakey fish. During dinner prepared by Chef Maylin Chavez who has been touring up and down the Oregon Coast helping tell fisherman stories with Tommy the Fishmonger of the Fishmonger show, we had albacore many different ways, including

• Raw! Part of a beautiful seafood platter with aguachile verde and pickled carrots on an oyster
  
• From the can! I particularly loved the presentations here as they took the time to carefully bring different private microcannery labels for us to see all the choice we have. This was a canned albacore tuna tostada, using miso, tahini, escabeche, cucumber, and avocado mousse. It was a great moment to remove the tostada to see that intact filet for us to flake ourselves.
  
• Raw again, this time as a ceviche/crudo Blue Evolution kelp, with salsa negra and aji amarillo dashi mushrooms and charred corn
  
• Cooked as Oregon Albacore Chiles en Nogada in anticipation of at the time the incoming Mexican Independence Day. Here the tuna is lightly confit, stuffed in poblano chiles with Maryhill peaches, cranberries, tomatoes, cumins and spices and smothered with this red walnut and almond sauce, with tuna used instead of the typical ground meat
  

In a memorable moment of connection and chorus of “hi!!!” back and forth between screens, Oregon Albacore Commissioner Rick Goché and owner of family business Sacred Seas Tuna showed us a livestream from one of his fishermen on his boat at golden hour of the sunlight streaming over the ocean surface as dolphins and tuna swam around the boat – no fish were biting, but one of those moments of appreciation for those awe inspiring beauty of the sea. Also there’s a lot of technology that can go on those boats now including Starlink Satellite Internet connections.

• How can you be a practical part of supporting People and the Ocean with Oregon Albacore Tuna? Look for Oregon Albacore when you are dining out or at the grocery store. Try a can of Oregon tuna and see for yourself the difference from the tuna you remember from your childhood. Instead of exporting the seafood, the commission hopes to have most of their catch consumed domestically and locally here. Your purchase of even one frozen filet or canned albacore makes a difference.
• Would you like to know more about how to purchase seafood, be it it off the docks on your trip to the coast or from the markets – please check out the Oregon Sea Grant’s buying guide.
• If you are looking for some excellent fish and chips, check out this excellent list of where you can find Oregon Coast fish and chips or her broader list of just where to eat and drink on the Oregon Coast where the restaurants support oregon based fisheries and farms.

Extra love to the other ladies who were part of the media tour and the dinner beforehand – photo courtesy of Judiaann Woo. Tuna Thanks – sorry I stole that Jennifer!, to those who helped put this together to tell these tuna tales – such as Ericka Carlson, Jennifer Burns Bright, Amanda Gladics of Oregon Sea Grant, Alanna Kieffer of Oregon Seaweed, Rachelle Hacmac. I admire the passion and love you have for the sea and its bounty and the community it supports and that you are all building together as stewards and the voice for those who are less articulate (like tuna).