Astoria fishery is transforming the anchovy from bait to foodie treat
When Astoria Pacific Seafoods owners received a cooking lesson from a Moroccan seafood businessman, they knew something had to be done to renovate the Oregon anchovy market.
The fishery is now turning the meager anchovy into classic Mediterranean boquerones and marketing them to the foodie markets in Astoria, Portland and Seattle.
If anchovies were harvested at all in the Pacific Northwest, it was only to sell them as bait for salmon and sturgeon sport fisheries.
“This is totally experimental,” [co-owner Jay] Bornstein said. “The labels, the product packaging. We’ve got quite a bit invested in it. This is not your everyday anchovy that would go on a pizza.”
If the concept works, it could keep around 20 people at the Astoria Pacific Seafoods sardine processing plant employed year-round.
Read more at The Daily Astorian.
{biztweet}boquerones{/biztweet}
