Captain David Aripotch; photo by Monte Isom
Another installment from Dock to Dish founder Sean Barrett. Each week he sends a newsletter to all the chefs participating in his restaurant supported fishery. The restaurants pay ahead of time for about 50 pounds of fish delivered directly from the dock, which arrive at the restaurant each week within the day.
Chef,
We are happy to report the summer season is finally in full bloom with a spectacular increase in landings of sustainable species over the past few days. This has driven us to feature a double header for you this week.
An integral part of our mission is to practice a balanced ecosystem-based management approach to sustainability. This philosophy dictates, in part, that we apply very light harvesting pressure to the broadest spectrum of the entire ecosystem possible and never focus our efforts on targeting specific species exclusively or repeatedly. So, right now we are packing up prime selections of two very popular local species from opposite ends of the food chain.
Arriving to your kitchen on schedule will be a 45 to 50 pound dressed yellowfin tuna caught while trolling in Block Canyon by members of Captain Bryan Fromm’s team of rod-and-reel fishermen on F/V Lady Maureen out of West Lake Marina. The established fishing rate of yellowfin tuna is officially rated sustainable by the leading fisheries authority in the world, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and NOAA Fisheries, which we rely on for the most up-to-date, trustworthy and science-based information about species sustainability.
Also arriving in your kitchen will be a pristine share of the freshest longfin squid that was just landed in Montauk. This species is well-known to be a darling of versatility in the kitchen and sustainability in the ocean. The haul was provided by a legendary local fisherman, Captain David Aripotch, who preserved the biggest and brightest of his catch for you. Many of these day-boat squid are still glowing with bioluminescence, which indicates a level of freshness that is impossible to find in the traditional seafood marketplace and a level of quality that is virtually unheard of when coming from any other source.
At Dock to Dish, membership has its privileges. Click this link for an in-depth Edible Manhattan article about Montauk Squid and How Americans developed a taste for one of the greenest ingredients in the sea. To learn more about Captain David, read on.
Know Your Fisherman
By the time he had reached the age of 12, Captain David Aripotch says he knew he wanted to be a commercial fisherman. Growing up on Long Island in Babylon, he learned how to navigate the waters of Great South Bay while summering on nearby Oak Island and duck-hunting with his father Norman. He began clamming after school in the early 1970s, occasionally playing hooky to go on commercial fishing trips out of Montauk. After graduating from high school in 1974, he moved to Montauk full time to fish commercially. Forty years later, he’s still fishing as the owner/operator of the F/V Caitlin & Mairead, named for two of his daughters. Captain Aripotch, or Cap’n Happy as he likes to be called, is also a partner at Inlet Seafood in Montauk. He fishes the inshore and offshore waters of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic year-round.
Keep it reel!
Featured photo by Gina Marie Santucci
