When you choose the fresh catch at your favorite restaurant or grab Alabama Gulf seafood at a local seafood market, you’re making a great choice in more ways than one. Because choosing Alabama Gulf seafood doesn’t just support your neighbors and friends; it’s also the option with higher quality.

Alabama Gulf seafood stands out for a few reasons. Imported seafood, which might be less expensive on menus and at markets, are also mass-produced and have lower regulation standards. By choosing locally-caught and processed seafood, you’re choosing higher quality and rigorous safety. And thanks to the difference in our waters, the seafood also has a distinct taste.

“Beyond just the level of freshness that Alabama seafood provides to somebody who lives and works in Alabama, the quality itself is just incredible. The Gulf of Mexico has, because of the temperatures of the water, the reef systems, it creates this zone where seafood has incredible flavor. The crabs are sweeter, the shrimp always tastes better,” explains Jim Smith, executive chef of The Hummingbird Way and Alabama Seafood Marketing Commission Chairman. “To me, red snapper is one of the most amazing fishes that you could ever work with, just because from our water, they have this wonderful, clean, bright taste, the taste that's reminiscent of the Gulf of Mexico, and that's really what you're looking for as a chef.”

If anyone knows the benefits of what you choose to cook with, it’s our local chefs.

“When it comes to seafood, we're committed to serving only the best, which is why we proudly offer Alabama Gulf Seafood. Its exceptional quality and freshness are unmatched, and as a small business, we're dedicated to supporting our local fishermen,” says Sedesh Boodram, Executive Chef of the Anvil Pub.

And for some chefs, like Chef Kyle Walker of Automatic Seafood, cooking with Alabama Gulf seafood is a chance to honor and reflect on days on the water with loved ones.

“Gulf seafood holds a special place in my heart. Of course, the wide variety of fish and the clean, fresh flavors of each species excite me as a chef. But, more importantly, Gulf seafood always seems to bring up some old memory of fishing with my dad in the Gulf or some story about a beach trip with friends. Gulf seafood brings people together and allows the best parts in people to really shine.”

The beauty of choosing to support local is that with every purchase, you can rest assured that your dollars are going to your neighbors and fellow Alabamians. So how can you help, even if you’re not a chef or fisher? Ask your local restaurants and seafood markets to supply Alabama Gulf seafood.

“If it's not coming from a place that you wanna support, it's important to press them [seafood markets and restaurants], to ask them to buy the Alabama Seafood. Because for sure, all of those local grocery stores, your local supermarket, they have access to Alabama shrimp, almost guaranteed,” says Jim Smith. “Sometimes they may be scared because it might cost a little bit more to serve it, but if you let them know

right now that you would much rather be paying a little bit more for real shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico than imported frozen shrimp from the other side of the world, they will get it if they know that people will buy it.”