Oregon Bay Shrimp is back; Fresh Halibut, Ahi, Sable, Oysters & More
FISH MARKET • RESTAURANT • OYSTER BAR
3004 East Burnside Street • 971-806-6747
* OPEN 10AM–8PM EVERY DAY EXCEPT TUESDAY * (Closed every Tuesday)
Please read our Covid-19 house rules HERE • We accept EBT/SNAP/Oregon Trail.
SEEN ANY GOOD MOVIES LATELY?
If so, we are guessing it was not the one pictured at right. As you might have predicted, your Portland source for sustainable seafood does, in fact, take umbrage with a one-sided documentary designed to denigrate sustainable seafood. Seaspiracy, which had a chance to go with “Conspirasea” but missed, as noted in this excellent and comprehensive review by Gizmodo’s Earther, is intentionally misleading and oversimplifies the industry’s layered and complex problems with a childishly simple solution: Don’t eat fish.
The movie is right: Overfishing is a problem. Unregulated fisheries are a problem. Mislabeled seafood and sustainable certifications are a problem. Human rights abuses from the fishing industry are a problem. That’s why we’ve written about each of these on these pages over the past 10 years. That’s why Flying Fish Captain Lyf Gildersleeve has gone to Washington DC to lobby for the update and renewal of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. That’s why Lyf has a separate blog to articulate concerns related to the fishing industry.
But to cherry pick information to feed a singular narrative – one that is aided and abetted by racist tropes of bad Asian fishermen and white savior experts – is completely disingenuous. And it becomes laughable when it ends with a montage of vegan food narrated by a vegan company. “[E]ven the film’s notable points seem to emerge only briefly before sinking beneath the surface, lost in a sea of murky conspiratorial thinking,” as Natalia Winkleman described it in her New York Times review.
If you’re willing to sacrifice 90 minutes of your life, we welcome you to watch it. Then, we welcome you to stop by the shop to discuss how, why, and where we source our seafood and meat. This is why we do what we do. Flying Fish’s modus operandi all along has been to sell you a delicious, nutritious product – and to provide an education of how we got it to you. We care a lot, and we want you to care too.
And another thing! Earth Day is next week, so we feel extra compelled to talk about what we do. Lyf will participate in Wake Up, SoulJour’s Earth Week series of events. We’ll have more on that in the coming days. Real quick, two heads ups and then we’ll speed round through this week’s fresh lists.
FLYING FISH ØST: We’re stoked to have teamed up with our friends at Broder to put together Fish Night at Broder Øst, their Hood River location. Fish, oysters, aquavit, and æbleskiver – one table, one evening only: next Thursday, April 22nd, 7pm. Call 541-436-3444 to save a spot.
GOIN’ FISHIN’? We’re heading to sea with our buds at Garibaldi Charters on Thursday, May 18th to fish for Lingcod, and we’d love to have you along. Email Lyf – [email protected] – if you wanna come along and cast your line.
All righty then. Our spring menu is live and this weekend weather is p-e-r-f-e-c-t for sitting on our patio. Peep our covid house rules and come on down. And while you’re here, maybe stop in the shop to take some of this freshness home:
FRESH FISH FOR THE HALIBUT
It’s pretty incredible that no one has ever made that joke before – especially no one in the seafood industry, and especially not us. But while we’re here talking about Pacific Halibut (for the hell of it), we’d like to volunteer that we have a couple whole fish still available for $15.99/lb. We’ll fillet and vacuum it into 1-pound packages for you for free. Remember to save the bones for fish stock!
Striped Bass – wild, Pacific Ocean (Mexico) – whole fish and fillets
* – Sushi-grade fish
MORE LIKE BAE SHRIMP AMIRITE
Return of Bay Shrimp. Photo by Natalie, styling by Matthew.
It is Bay Shrimp season again in Oregon! Speaking of sustainable seafood and managed fisheries, Oregon’s bay shrimp (or pink shrimp, as it’s also known) was the first shrimp fishery certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, the efforts of a collaboration between environmentalists, commercial fishermen, and the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. Read about that HERE (MSC) or HERE (ODFW), then come in for a tub of precooked and peeled local lil shrimpies for your salads or straight for yo mouth. Cocktail sauce and lemon wedges advised but not required.
FRESH SHELLFISH AS OF SATURDAY APRIL 17TH
Bay Shrimp/Pink Shrimp – wild, Pacific Ocean (Oregon), cooked and peeled, ready to eat
Manila Clams – sustainable farm-raised, Washington
Dungeness Crab Meat – wild, Oregon, cooked and picked, ready to eat
OYSTERS APLENTY
Oysters aplenty. That’s what we have, and what we have is oysters aplenty. A 10 spot on the half shell at the hour of this writing (which is roughly 11am Saturday April 17th).
FRESH OYSTERS AS OF ROUGHLY 11AM SATURDAY APRIL 17TH
Kokus – Washington
Tidepoint – Washington
Baywater Sweet – Washington
Baywater Indigo – Washington
Capital – Washington
Shigoku – Washington
Kumamoto – Washington
Chelsea Gem – Washington
Glacier Point – Alaska
Belon – Maine
FISH SMOKERS SMOKING FISH
Our fish smoker? It smokes fish. Flying Fish’s fish smoker smokes fish in a nice brine of local raw honey, sea salt, and herbs over soaked chips of cherry wood. Sweet, salty, smoky. That’s the motto.
FRESH MEAT AS OF SATURDAY APRIL 17TH
Smoked Sablefish/Black Codº
Smoked Local Chinook Salmonº
Smoked Ora King Salmonº
Smoked Salmon Belliesº
Smoked Salmon Collarsº
Smoked Steelheadº
º – Flying Fish house-smoked, Gildersleeve family recipe
THE MEAT SECTION IS OFF-WHITE WITH FOREST GREEN TYPE
That’s it, that’s the story. Below is the list of fresh meats. We’re out of jokes. What did you think, this was some kind of ROAST?
FRESH MEAT AS OF SATURDAY APRIL 17TH
CHICKEN – Mary’s Free Range Chickens – Pitman, CA
Whole bird
Parts
BEEF – Carman Ranch, Wallowa Valley, OR; Laney Family Farms, Canby, OR; Painted Hills Natural Beef, John Day, OR
Ribeye (Painted Hills)
Ground beef (Laney)
Stew meat (Laney)
OUR RESTAURANT MENU
For dining here or to-go. Last updated April 10, 2021.
CLICK MENU TO ORDER ONLINE FOR PICKUP:
ALSO: Cocktails, sake, wine, and beer. Inquire within.
FLYING FISH SIGNOFF & DISCLAIMER
PLEASE NOTE: This email was accurate at the time of its weekly writing. Some products come and go quicker than others, so for best results on the freshness, follow us on the social medias: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And tag us in your Instagram pics @flyingfishpdx – we love seeing your food pics!
Cheers,
Lyf Gildersleeve and the Flying Fish Team: Alana, Aphid, Brooklyn, Chris, Danny, Elowynn, Erik, Jack, Jae, Jordan, Kevin, Luis, Mad Dog, Mike, Neebs, Ross, Ryan P, Ryan S, Sam, Sarah, Sawyer, Tara and Brad
INSTAGRAM JAM OF THE WEEK
Self described oyster nerd has bucket list oyster. “They have a coppery, mineral taste and are not for the faint of heart.” So says @karenkhoun, and Karen ain’t wrong!
ABOUT FLYING FISH
Craig and Sandy Gildersleeve opened Flying Fish Company in Sandpoint, Idaho in 1979 – the year before their son Lyf was born.
Now president of Flying Fish Company, Lyf has spent his entire life around fish, including an aquaculture education at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University.
Flying Fish has three locations: Sandpoint, Idaho; Durango, Colorado; and Portland, Oregon. The Portland location opened in 2009 as a food cart at the D Street pod on Division Street. In 2011, we opened the fish shack on Hawthorne Boulevard. In 2016, we moved into a stand at Providore Fine Foods on Sandy Boulevard. In February 2020, we opened our standalone location on East Burnside with a restaurant and a patio.
* * *
Thank you for supporting our family-owned business.
—Lyf, Natalie, Juniper, and Miles Gildersleeve (and Hazel the Dog)
* * *
PHOTO BY NATALIE GILDERSLEEVE PHOTOGRAPHY: Daydream kids.
FLYING FISH ØST: We’re stoked to have teamed up with our friends at Broder to put together Fish Night at Broder Øst, their Hood River location. Fish, oysters, aquavit, and æbleskiver – one table, one evening only: next Thursday, April 22nd, 7pm. Call 541-436-3444 to save a spot.
It’s pretty incredible that no one has ever made that joke before – especially no one in the seafood industry, and especially not us. But while we’re here talking about Pacific Halibut (for the hell of it), we’d like to volunteer that we have a couple whole fish still available for $15.99/lb. We’ll fillet and vacuum it into 1-pound packages for you for free. Remember to save the bones for fish stock!
Our fish smoker? It smokes fish. Flying Fish’s fish smoker smokes fish in a nice brine of local raw honey, sea salt, and herbs over soaked chips of cherry wood. Sweet, salty, smoky. That’s the motto.
PLEASE NOTE: This email was accurate at the time of its weekly writing. Some products come and go quicker than others, so for best results on the freshness, follow us on the social medias: 
Craig and Sandy Gildersleeve opened Flying Fish Company in Sandpoint, Idaho in 1979 – the year before their son Lyf was born.
