WHERE TO FIND CUSTOM CANNED
TROLL-CAUGHT ALBACORE
All troll-caught albacore products on this page are hand-packed, dolphin-safe, and rich in beneficial Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Products are cooked just once, and are canned with pride and the utmost care. The albacore's sustainably harvested from the ocean by Pacific Northwest fishermen who use simple hook-and-line jig boat gear.
All custom-canned troll-caught albacore tuna on this page comes from fishermen and small family-owned businesses that belong to the Western Fishboat Owners Association (WFOA) and who also actively contribute to the American Fishermen's Research Foundation. The AFRF is dedicated to aiding, encouraging, promoting, and supporting science and education related to Pacific albacore tuna. Research projects and other activities are funded by a $20 assessment for each ton of Pacific albacore landed by WFOA members; fishermen also contribute their time and equipment to AFRF data collection projects.
This site is not intended to promote one product or brand over another; rather, this list is meant to inform the general public about where they can find sources of top-quality troll-caught albacore in their own (land-locked!) environments.
AMERICAN TUNA COMPANY: Brothers Joe and Ed Sheean started fishing together in 1965 and launched the Irish Miss in 1975. Joe's son Mike has often crewed, and is now the land-based operations and sales manager for the Pacific Fleet brand. The family's delight in fishing has always been the satisfaction of overcoming challenges at sea while providing a quality product for people who love eating fish. All Pacific Fleet albacore are troll-caught and fresh-frozen at sea on the Irish Miss and other Pacific coast fishing vessels.
At a time when sustainable fisheries, healthy foods, and value are paramount in the minds of consumers, Capt. Joe is proud of his family's participation in the albacore fishery, and the fact that troll-caught albacore was recently given the highest rating by the Audubon Society as a sustainable fishery. Mike and and his wife Lisa (who handles customer orders) are thrilled that the mainstay of their business is repeat orders from satisfied customers.
American Tuna Company
236 Sutter Street
Petaluma, CA 94954
707-773-2139
pacificfleet@comcast.net
pacificfleettuna.com
online sales
MARY LU SEAFOODS: Captain Brett and his fishing vessel Mary Lu offer gourmet troll-caught albacore varieties that include lightly salted, no salt, alder smoked, garlic, and jalapeño -- as well as three-can and six-can variety packs!
"It is our goal to bring to you the highest quality canned tuna using only the most environmentally friendly methods," says Captain Brett. "All of our albacore are troll-caught with hook and line -- no nets or long lines -- and frozen right onboard the Mary Lu." Each fish is hand-filleted, hand-packed, and cooked just once in its own juice to provide an all-natural, premium gourmet canned albacore, and Mary Lu Seafoods' canned albacore is unique because it is produced by just a single boat.
Mary Lu Seafoods
PO Box 998
Crescent City, California 95531
707-465- 0284
Fax 707-458-9629
info@maryluseafoods.com
maryluseafoods.com
online sales
SHAMROCK ALBACORE: Scottish and Irish bloodlines run thick through the veins of fisherman Tony West, who worked for years with Irish crewmen and still proudly displays triple shamrocks on the side of his fishing vessel Steel Fin II.
Tony and his wife Barbara began custom canning their own troll-caught albacore several years ago; unlike most other fishing families, they offer single-serving 3-ounce cans in addition to standard 6-ounce cans. Tony and Barbara can also be spotted with their Shamrock Albacore in farmers' markets around Los Angeles.
Shamrock Albacore
1423 Silvius Avenue
San Pedro, California 90731
310-832-8143
TWest90731@aol.com
albatuna.com/Shamrock.htm
ILWACO FISH COMPANY: The Ilwaco Fish Company offers their own custom-canned troll-caught albacore -- as well as fresh and frozen troll-caught albacore at their seafood market in Ilwaco.
Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish Co. is a fish processing facility along Ilwaco’s historic waterfront. The company provides natural resource-based, value-added processing jobs and depends directly on the sustainable management of local maritime resources. Because its livelihood depends on the sustainable management of local seafood stocks, the owners and employees have a vested interest in actively promoting sound and sustainable management of local fisheries.
Jessie's has been in business for over 40 years and distributes worldwide.
Jessie's Ilwaco Fish Company
117B Howerton Way SE
PO Box 800
Ilwaco, Washington 98624
360-642-3773
ifco@aone.com
ISLAND TROLLERS: Based in Anacortes, Washington, Island Trollers Inc. offers custom canned troll-caught albacore in natural juices -- as well as with jalapeño, with garlic, with capers, and also smoked. An array of different gift packs are available online.
Captain Larry Mason from the fishing vessel Aura founded Island Trollers with his wife Cynthia after fishing with his dad, retired Navy Lcdr. Stuart James Mason Jr.
Larry stresses that his fish are individually caught, bled, flash-frozen, and then stored at -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Island Trollers offers only the finest quality sushimi-grade troll-caught albacore in the can.
Island Trollers
Cap Sante Marina - Dock A
Anacortes, Washington
877-253-2761
albacore@islandtrollers.com
islandtrollers.com/
online sales
NEW DAY FISHERIES: When Denny Kimmel was an 11-year-old deckhand, working with his father in 1947, he became enthralled with trolling for albacore tuna.
They trolled for albacore from Tasu Harbor, Canada, to Guadalupe Island, Mexico. Denny loved the fact that troll fishing was done all by hook and line, with no nets involved.
His dream of owning an albacore vessel was reached in 1977 when he built the 47-foot trolling vessel New Day.
His wife Gail, sons Steve and Scott, and daughter Wendy all helped out as deckhands in the ensuing years until they started their own families.
At age 19, Scott Kimmel took over the New Day Fisheries Corporation and began the purchasing and processing of seafood.
His dream was to turn out the same home-canned albacore tuna product that his grandma Dee and mother Gail had been putting up in jars for the last 57 years -- and he has succeeded.
New Day Fisheries, Inc.
2427 Washington Street
Port Townsend, Washington 98368
360-385-4600
360-385-6455 fax
800-574-1924
sales@kimmelstuna.com
newdayfisheries.com
online sales
PAPA GEORGE GOURMET ALBACORE AND SEAFOODS:
Papa George is a family fishing business producing gourmet albacore tuna and seafoods.
There once was a Cajun from Bayou Laffite, Louisiana, who shrimp fished, oystered, and hunted alligators. He built for his family the F/V Papa George (to ABS standards) up in Harvey, Louisiana in 1973. He was famous for cooking at the shipyard in the nearby town of Golden Meadow -- and for his eagle eye on the workers who maintained and painted the F/V Papa George. The entire shipyard gang enjoyed his massive pots of gumbo or red beans and rice.
This proud fisherman, George Belsome, painted his boat green, because it was the color of money and he wanted some good luck. In 1990 Steve and Holly Lovejoy bought the vessel from Belsome's son Darryl.
Papa George Gourmet Albacore has one goal ... to produce the highest quality seafood products from our catch in order to satisfy the sophisticated tastes of our customers. Our thirty years of experience in fishing gives us the advantage of knowing how to catch and process really good fish. We use only sashimi grade albacore and salmon in our products.
Papa George Gourmet Albacore
6201 - 15th Avenue NW, G9-10
Seattle, Washington 98107
206-255-4203
holly@papageorgetuna.com
papageorgetuna.com
online sales
WILD PACIFIC SEAFOOD: Wild Pacific Seafood is a new evolution of Pelican Packers -- same fishermen, same bossy parrot, and the same great Pelican’s Choice albacore.
Harvey and Judy Cosky catch albacore one at a time by hook-and-line from the stern of the big red EZ-1. Every year they take a portion of their catch to Pelican Packers, the cannery they started in 1998 with Mike and Russ Edwards. The albacore is canned family style -- cooked once in the can to maintain all the healthy juices and oils. The rest of the business is family-style as well -- from catching the fish to shipping your order, we do it ourselves.
All troll-caught albacore has the health benefits of higher Omega-3, high selenium, and low mercury. Choosing to buy troll-caught albacore supports U.S. troll-fishing families and helps keep our oceans healthy, so we encourage you to find a troll-caught albacore brand that suits your palate from a company you enjoy doing business with. Our hope, of course, is that you'll try our Pelican's Choice Albacore and like it.
We offer six flavors: Original, No Salt, Jalapeño (popular for sandwiches), Dill (big on salads), Garlic (also popular on salads), and Smoked (often eaten plain on crackers). Two handy sizes: 7.5 oz and 3.5 oz with poptops. As one customer said, "The first time I tried your tuna, I gobbled an entire can in one sitting before I could stop myself!"
Wild Pacific Seafood LLC
P.O. Box 955
Deming, Washington 98244
(360)592-4072
(877)ALBACORE
(877)252-2267
info@WildPacificSeafood.com
WildPacificSeafood.com
Online Store
CARVALHO FISHERIES: Our company is a "first receiver" of seafood, which means we buy it directly from the boats. We operate six docks, spanning 300 miles of coastline. California docks are in Eureka, Trinidad, and Crescent City. In Oregon our docks are in Coos Bay, Florence, and Newport. We buy from well over 100 fishing vessels at these docks, and we have our own trucking system to consolidate these products and deliver them to our processing plant.
Carvalho Fisheries is also involved with quality research and development upgrade technologies.
The development of the “minimal mercury” classification began in the kitchen of Bill and Margaret Carvalho. Warnings about the dangers of methyl mercury in tuna prompted Bill to investigate the safety of his family’s tuna supply. As the 2003 albacore season began, he consulted with the Carvalho Fisheries’ in-house quality assurance and FDA compliance staff. They began a testing program and systematically sent samples of albacore tuna of different sizes and ages to a private laboratory. Results were as suspected: Young albacore have consistently lower mercury content than older, larger fish.
Carvalho's goal was producing tuna products with “minimal mercury” content of 0.3 parts-per-million (ppm) or less -- a rating that is one-third less than the allowable FDA standard.
Average test results for Carvalho “minimal mercury” products is 0.15 ppm -- one-sixth of the FDA action level.
Recent testing by the Mercury Policy Project of canned albacore on U.S. grocery store shelves found that one can in twenty exceeds the FDA level of 1.0 ppm mercury.
Our products are healthy, all-natural, and delicious. Please visit our online store to experience our mild-flavored, firm albacore tuna.
Carvalho Fisheries Inc.
P.O. Box 2962
McKinleyville, California 95519
707- 839-3270
707- 839-3260 fax
800)-301-3270
billc@carvalhofisheries.com
carvalhofisheries.com
online sales
At WILD PLANET we seek to...
- Produce the finest wild seafood only from fisheries that are sustainable and free of wasteful by-catch and habitat destruction.
- Develop new standards of seafood safety that assure consumers protection from potentially harmful contaminants both natural and man-made.
- Supply consumers with quality-enhanced products that provide greater essential nutrition, promoting superior health and wellness.
- Become an example to the seafood industry of finding sustainable balance in both the use and preservation of precious marine resources.
A wild, living planet is a choice. Please join us in choosing a Wild Planet.
WILD PLANET
1585 Heartwood Drive Suite D
McKinleyville, California 95519
800-998-9946
707-840-9116
707-839-3260 fax
info@1wildplanet.com
1wildplanet.com
online sales