Seafood prices up 10 percent locally, but no shortages

Restaurants prepare for spill’s effects

Dayton-area seafood purveyors say they’ve seen a 10 percent price jump across the board in the last two weeks that they attribute to the BP oil spill forcing the closure of one-third of the Gulf of Mexico’s fishing waters.

But there’s no evidence of any shortages yet, and Miami Valley residents in fact see very little seafood from the Gulf of Mexico on their grocery store shelves and restaurant dinner plates: The vast majority is either imported, or comes from the East and West coasts, said Dave Sauer, area representative for seafood distributor Oceanwide Seafood, which supplies restaurants and operates Springboro and Dayton retail shops.

“We’re not seeing any huge increases or limited supplies of anything,” Sauer said. “I think some suppliers and manufacturers are perhaps taking a little bit of advantage of the situation.”

Jack Gridley, meat and seafood manager for Dorothy Lane Market’s three Dayton-area grocery stores, said he has seen wholesale prices of some seafood items such as oysters and shrimp rise in recent weeks, but he said DLM customers have not yet seen retail price hikes.

The Gulf Coast supplies an estimated one-fifth of the nation’s commercial fish and shellfish, according to The Associated Press.

Rue Dumaine restaurant owner Anne Kearney — who spent 13 years in New Orleans — proudly serves Gulf shrimp and oysters at her Washington Twp. restaurant. But Kearney is now reluctantly preparing to find alternate sources, probably along the East Coast, for some of her most popular seafood menu items.

Rue Dumaine will participate in a “Dine Out for the Gulf Coast” fundraiser this weekend, donating $1 for every dinner sold and $3 for each specialty cocktail sold to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund.

Kearney, who just returned from a five-day visit to New Orleans, said the city’s residents are displaying their customary spirit and tenacity during the crisis. “They’re enjoying what they have while they have it.”

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