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Are there any other alternatives/recommendations to purchasing fresh seafood besides at the Starfish, Dolphin and Simple Feast? I had planned on using the Fish Trap's new store but now hesitate after reading some posts. Do the fishing charter boats sell the catch that's not shipped home for the people taking that excursion? I will be staying 10 days on STJ and for the nights we eat in we had hoped to have local seafood. I do know that the groceries get stocked from provisions coming in from Florida, right? I was on a sailboat cruise along the windward islands during which we had local catch everynight and it was exquisite!
We will be arriving in exactly 4 weeks!!!
Corinna
Hello Corinna,
I don't know about fish stands on St. John, so hopefully Chris or other St. Johnians can help out there.
If you are up for taking an early morning ferry over to St. Thomas and a short taxi ride to get fresh fish from fishermen over here then you could try that. Bring a cooler with you to carry the fish in with some ice. There are typically a few fish stands in Smith Bay, which isn't far from the Red Hook ferry.
Or in the afternoon you could come over and try the Sapphire Marina where some of the fishing charters come in and sometimes sell part of their catch. Perhaps you could call a few of the charters ahead of time and arrange it.
It would be easy enough if you were staying in the Cruz Bay area. But if you are out in Coral Bay it would be a long haul for fish. LOL.
I am curious about this too since there are often a few fishermen selling roadside on St. Thomas; seems like there would be one or two on St. John also. As well as, the fishing charters that are based out of St. John as you mentioned.
Anyone got the scoop on getting fresh fish on St. John?
--Islander
There are two ways to "for sure" get fresh caught fish.
1) Catch them yourself and "buy" them from the fisherman.
--this works if you really want fresh,local fish.
--you go out and make a day of it...catch some fish and possible get enough fish to eat fresh fish all week.
--Usually the fisherman will clean them for you and is cool about it.
--I can give you a local coral bay fisherman's Aden.. I can get his number. He is a long time local and everyone on the island gets excited when his tomatoes ripen. His boat is nothing special but he will find whats biting, usually. Theres never a promise of fish and he wont charge an arm and a leg. I took my dad and we caught a black fin tuna...we LOVED IT.
2) You can call a local charter and ask to buy fish from them. Beware that there is a waiting list of chefs that want fish and pay cash. Sometimes, I am way back on that list to be honest just because I am not in town.
Personally, I am not a fan of the truckside road sales of fish. In the VI, these fish go from the boat all day to the truck then wait by the road....not anything I want to eat. Most of the guys I buy from ice them and bleed them and gaff them properly. Its all about connections and it is tough for visitors to get in on it. Beware of fish off the reefs. They can make you real sick whether you are local or not. It is a sickness from the corals that is in the meat of some of the reef fish. Many predator fish get it also, like baracuda and king fish.
Right now, the mahi fishing is spotty but the yellow or black fin isnt too bad that I've seen.
Hope I helped!
Thank you Chris and Islander !!!!
- you've both helped alot. I guess we'll just search through the groceries and see what they have to offer. I do like it best when someone else prepares it so it won't be too much of a hardship to eat out more often than we had planned. As for catching it myself, I am not such a great fisherwoman. I need my brother to bait my hook and take the catch off if I'm even lucky enough to get a bite. I will save my boating day for a trip with OceanRunner power boats over to BVI, Norman Island, and the Indians.
Thanks again for all the help.........
Corinna
My husband and I buy fish, crab, lobster, etc. from the stands in Smith Bay but we get there early, early, early. He often runs down around 6 AM to pick it up. Never had a problem with any of it (except they keep talking him into more than we can eat)
Pamela
We were repeatedly warned away from buying fresh fish while on STJ and noticed that the restaurants did not "advertise" fresh local fish. The reason? Ciguetera (sp?) poisoning possibilities. There was an article in the local newspaper while we were there describing the disease and the effects. Apparently it's very difficult - if not impossible - to know which fish have it and which fish don't. So you run the risk if you eat local fish.
Hi Pam
Thanks for your suggestion. We will be staying on St John and I really doubt I will bother trying to transport anything back over from STT. And, even though 6am is early, we plan to be up at the crack of dawn to do as much trail hiking as possible before the heat and humidity become too much. Then it's off to snorkel. This will be the first vacation that I will probably lose weight on which is a good thing!!
Regards,
Corinna
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the info. I had no idea about this until I started getting replies to my question. It's a good thing I asked. It's hard as my mother is a vegetarian but does enjoy seafood. Being from Long Island we have an abundance of fresh seafood and had thought that STJ would be similiar, just a different variety. But I will not risk anyone becoming ill just to try something new. We will be staying at Cinnamon Bay for 10 days and while we plan on enjoying dinner out several nights, had hoped we could grill some healthy low calorie meals of fish and veggies. Which we will still be able to do; we will just purchase what's familiar from the grocery stores.
Regards,
Corinna
