Virginia Seafood
Virginia offers a wealth of seafood including blue crabs, red crabs, oysters, clams, striped bass, flounder, sea bass and more.
Virginia borders the Chesapeake Bay, an estuary where Virginia commercial fishermen harvest top quality blue crabs. Perhaps the most popular Virginia seafood feast consists of blue crabs, steamed whole and seasoned with a spicy crab seasoning. In addition to steaming, blue crab meat is served fried or broiled in dishes such as crab cakes. Another Virginia delicacy is soft crabs. These crabs are harvested after shedding their shell and cooked whole while still soft. Soft crabs have a unique taste and are highly sought after by seafood enthusiasts. They can be served in a number of ways but the most popular meal is simply breaded and fried soft crabs served on a sandwich bun.
A lesser known crab is the red crab. These large crabs live along a very narrow band of deep ocean waters along the American coastline. A limited number of vessels fish off the coast and land red crabs in Hampton Roads Virginia. Seafood enthusiasts sometimes find red crabs available in local seafood markets or restaurants.
Virginia is known for its excellent oysters. Virginia sales of wild and farmed oysters totaled close to 5 million oysters in 2007. The state has a rich history of oyster harvesting. The Chesapeake Bay once held enormous amounts of oysters and while oyster populations have declined, wild oyster harvesting still occurs. The James River is among the top Chesapeake Bay estuaries for wild caught oysters, known for yielding especially high quality product. A thriving oyster aquaculture industry has been successfully introduced and demand is strong for high quality live oysters for raw consumption.
The coastal bays of Virginia also produce some of the highest quality oysters sold in the USA. Chincoteague Island is nationally recognized for it's excellent salty oysters and other seafood. The island celebrates the delicacy with its annual fall Oyster Festival, and all-you-can-eat event that includes oyster fritters, single fried, raw on the half shell or steamed.
Both wild caught and farmed hard clams are available year round in Virginia. Watermen harvest clams by hand or use patent tong rigs to catch wild hard clams in waters of the Chesapeake Bay or coastal areas. Virginia aquaculture operations grow hard clams from seed up to 1-2" which are prized for steaming or eaten raw.
Virginia is one of the leading U.S. states for landings of sea scallops. These open ocean shellfish are arguably among the best tasting of all seafood. Boats fishing far from shore trawl or dredge areas of the ocean floor, catching scallops and shucking the product at sea. The scallops are then rushed to market, providing a fresh, tender, all white product.
Flounder are among the most popular saltwater fish served in Virginia. They are served as boneless fillets, and are prized for their mild taste. Flounder are served in a variety of ways, the most common being fried or broiled. Virginia flounder are sometimes stuffed with local crab meat and then baked.
Striped Bass, known in Virginia as rockfish have a distinctive flavor and firm flaky meat. Rockfish are available wild caught or farm raised. They are delicious fried, grilled or broiled. Rockfish are sold in sizes from 2-3 lbs up to monster fish of 50 lbs or more.
Virginia anglers and seafood lovers enjoyed enormous numbers of sea trout thru the 1970's and 80's. The fishes numbers eventually fell drastically and these are less common today. Gray trout and their close cousins the speckled trout are both attractive fish with silvery sides. The fillets are soft and flavorful. These fish can be as small as 12 inches but can also reach weights of 10 lbs or more.
Black sea bass are another favorite Virginia saltwater fish. These fish are caught in the ocean and reach weights of 5-6 lbs, although most fish are smaller. The cooked meat is snow white, flaky and very mild tasting. Sea bass are available year round in Virginia.
Virginia Beach Seafood Markets