The 600 pounds of fish that had been swimming in Lake Erie's 33-degree waters that morning would be processed and packed in ice for shipping by nightfall. By the next morning, less than 24 hours after being caught in the Baptista's gill nets, some of those fish would be delivered to Superior Fish Co. in Royal Oak for sale to restaurants, gourmet markets and home cooks all over metro Detroit. Lent is a busy season at Superior, one of the metro area's largest seafood wholesalers and retailers. Co-owner Kevin Dean estimates that sales increase about 10 percent this time of year, when Catholics are asked to avoid eating meat on Fridays as a sign of penitence in the weeks preceding Easter. From the time a fish is pulled from the water until it reaches the consumer, Dean says, temperature is critical to its quality and shelf life.
Higher temperatures mean shorter shelf life and potentially rapid declines in quality.
The plant needs it for handling 35,000 pounds or more of fish a day, says company vice president Ulysses Pratas, whose father founded the company in 1980. The catch arrives through the back door, just minutes after it's taken from boats. Three men unload the Baptista catch, separating it from the ice in which it was layered less than 15 minutes ago and sorting it into trays and tubs of yet more ice. Presteve ships fish in many forms. Buyers such as Superior Fish, which has its own processing equipment, usually order their fish whole.