Sculpin

They are temperate, Rock Cod-like fish, that can be distinguished from their distant relatives by their plain-colored body pattern. They are also related to the Hapuku. Gropers are found right around New Zealand, including the Chatham Rise but excluding the Campbell Plateau. They are most common over or near rocky areas down to 250 meters. The main fishing grounds for Gropers are the deep canyons off the East Coast of the North Island, Cook Strait, Kokura and the west Coast of the South Island.

Claw meat is obviously taken from claws but also includes leg meat. It is the cheapest because the meat is small and has the least integrity. Special crabmeat is meat taken from front of the body. Again, a little bigger, more integrity. Jumbo Lump crab meat is from the back of the body. It has the most integrity and is the largest meat on the crab due to propelling those powerful swimming fins. Finally, Backfin meat is essentially broken pieces of Jumbo Lump crab.

Natural Mussel spat is collected from mid to late summer on the long-lines and brought back to American Mussel. At American Mussel the spat is graded and mesh socks are loaded and returned to the farm in September and October for the growing process. By mid-spring, some of the crop is ready for the market and harvesting begins. Due to the growing process and the unlimited food supply, the shells are as pristine as possible, and the meat is the largest we have seen. The flavor is wonderfully sweet with a slight hint of that wonderful Narragansett Bay salinity. The clean blue shells have waves of gold radiating through.