Meet our Retail Team!
Hi, my name is Sam and I run the retail program at Afishionado. That includes our shop in Bedford, the online store, and the subscription program. I grew up in Bedford and have lived near the ocean my entire life. Working with Afishionado has been a great opportunity to learn more about the seafood industry, especially our local suppliers. I’ve been fortunate to visit Sustainable Blue’s land-based recirculating aquaculture salmon farm and watch some of the processes involved in bringing sustainable Atlantic salmon to conusmers. I’m interested in the process of oyster cultivation and how the farmers work with the natural landscape to grow such nutritious shellfish.
I’ve always enjoyed seafood and since starting at Afishionado, I’ve expanded my tastes and learned more than I could have imagined. I love to cook and try new things, so having access to high quality and responsibly sourced seafood is a great benefit. I’m excited to share what I learn and try at home with our customers and offer a branch to introduce more seafood in their home cooking!
Hello seafood lovers, my name is Lydia and I am the winter 2023 co-op student at Afishionado. I am originally from Ontario in a very landlocked area so I never had a great variety of seafood to try, we had salmon about once a month, but that’s it. Since moving to Nova Scotia I have tried muscles, oysters, crab, shrimp, and squid. I have fallen in love with seafood, so when I saw the opportunity to work for a fishmongering company, I jumped on it. I have learned more about seafood than I thought there was to know. My entire first day was learning all about oysters, just oysters!
I’ve only been here a short time, but I have learned so much about the importance of sustainability when it comes to seafood. I had no idea what went into sustainable practices and how important those practices are to maintain the supply of seafood we have. Two companies have really stood out since I began working here, Sustainable Blue and D’Eon Oyster Company.
Sustainable Blue farms salmon in a fully land-based facility. At first I didn’t understand, why wouldn’t you just fish salmon from the ocean like everyone else? Upon doing some more research I found this is the most sustainable way to farm salmon. The company has a closed loop system that allows them to breed salmon from egg to adult. They produce zero waste back into the ocean and can guarantee their fish are raised without hormones, parasites, and antibiotics! I hope to see more and more companies begin to adopt the same practices as Sustainable Blue.
The D’Eon Oyster Company also stood out to me. After doing some research on their website, I found out they have a fully off-grid, solar powered processing barge. Another big thing D’Eon Oysters has done is opt for quieter hydraulic equipment. This may not seem like a big deal, however, louder machinery causes more disruption and stress to animals and the environment. The less noise they are able to make while fishing, the better.
I am so excited for the remainder of my Co-Op term with Afishionado. I hope to write another blog post before I leave to let you all know the new things I have learned about fishing, harvesting, sustainability, and sea creatures!
