Dish It Up: ‘You are what you eat’

If upon first meeting Tommy Gomes he seems a bit salty, it’s nothing more than the fact that, as a fifth generation San Diego fishmonger, he practically lives at the sea.

Gomes, whose Portuguese family settled in San Diego in 1892, is passionate about fish and the community around it. Most days he can be found at Catalina Offshore Products, the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market giving demonstrations, or at one of the many charity events where he gives back.

As an industry leader who loves to lend a voice to seafood education and help with Marine Life Protection Act initiatives, Gomes stopped by the PACIFIC offices to share a little about the dock to plate movement, the fluctuating fish market and a host of other topics, including:

• Going viral (check out the video of him breaking down an Opah fish on YouTube, which garnered almost 25 milion views on Facebook, too)
• Promoting the American fisherman
• The reach of Catalina Offshore Products
• Harvesting sea urchin
• Dock to plate movement
• Fluctuating fish market
• The art of grading fish
• Retail, education and nutrition center at Catalina Offshore Products
• Evolution of the food on our table
• “Good seafood is not cheap and cheap seafood is not good”
• Farm raised fish
• What it takes to raise Blue Fin in Mexico
• “If it’s silver and small, it should be on our plate”
• “Tunaville”
• San Diego is losing its history
• History and tradition of fishing culture in San Diego
• Story behind ballast point (the fishing term, not the beer)
• “You are what you eat”
• There’s great seafood in town; know your source
• Going back to the family dinner

Dish It Up is a collaboration between PACIFIC and Facebook group Eating and Drinking In San Diego.

Listen and subscribe to Dish It Up and sister podcast Kiss My Glass on Apple iTunes, Google Play and Soundcloud.

Keep up

Catalina Offshore Products, 5202 Lovelock St., Point Loma, 619.297.9797, catalinaop.com

Facebook, Instagram: @CatalinaOffshore

YouTube: youtube.com/user/CatalinaOffshore

Tommy Gomes on social media: @TommyTheFishmonger