Black Sea Bass with Nate Alba

Nate from our sales team dishes about a local favorite — black sea bass — from their seasonality and mating rituals, to how they're caught.

He spent three years as a fisheries observer recording catch data on a variety of commercial fishing boats. Paired with his marine biology degree and his work at Wulf’s, he knows a few things about fish. 

Wulf’s: Why are black bass so great to work with for chefs? 

Nate: So, black bass are a great fish for a few reasons. There are different sizing categories that allow you to utilize the fish for different applications. Medium black bass range from a pound to about a pound and a quarter. Next are large black bass, which are about a pound and a half, sometimes slightly bigger. Jumbos are any fish 2 pounds and up.

If you want to whole-roast a fish, any one of these sizes would work well, but depending on the dish size or plating vision you can key in on what you would like. If you're trying to serve a 6-to-8-ounce fillet, a jumbo black bass should yield that.  

Wulf’s: Black bass are pretty stunning. What makes them special in the summer months? 

Nate: We sell a lot of black bass throughout the year. It's a really popular option for our chef customers in the northeast and across the country, and it’s accessible to a range of restaurants. It's easy to get excited this time of year because we're getting fish right out of the water off Cape Cod, so it’s as fresh as it gets. I stand behind the quality year-round, but I'm really proud to highlight the work of the Mass. commercial fishing industry and provide local fish to my customers. 

The characteristic clean flavor is consistent year-round, but we see some impressive colors and variations during the summertime, like beautiful blue striations on their face or sometimes big humps on their heads. It all has to do with mating rituals and things of that nature — fish business. 

"They're often brought up live and can be handled and iced from there. This results in the freshest product you can imagine."

Wulf’s: Why is Wulf’s black sea bass unique? Can you dive into how we get the fish and treat it? 

Nate: The black sea bass we work with are handled with extreme care from how they are caught to landing the fish to icing and packing them for delivery.  

Chef Fernanda Tapia — Wulf's Test Kitchen

The fish are often landed by hook and line and pot trap, which is really awesome. They are not handled with heavy equipment or machinery. They're not being caught by draggers, trawl nets or even gillnets— nothing like that. The fish are usually handled by hand on very small boats. 

They're often brought up live and can be iced from there. This results in the freshest product you can imagine. This is the same with rod and reel fish, hook and line fish, and hand line fish — this really speaks to the quality that we see.  

Right after the fish are landed, we pick them up and bring them to our warehouse where they are sized and graded. They’re then packed to be quickly on their way to chefs in and around Boston, New York, and all throughout the country.

Wulf’s: Any last words? 

Nate: It's a great time for black bass! If you're thinking about getting it on your menu, it's a no brainer. It should be a solid option from now into the early part of the fall.  

From Calico  — Easthampton