News

• Press Release: Quite Simply The Finest The Finest Seafood Available From A Company That Cares
• Carvalho Fisheries Offers Gourmet Albacore Tuna Lower In Mercury And Higher In Beneficial Oils

• Carvalho takes mercury challenge
• Study show West Coast tuna off the mercury hook
• Taking the mercury out of tuna

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Carvalho Fisheries: Quite Simply The Finest Seafood Available From A Company That Cares

MCKINLEYVILLE, CA (June 2004)—A pioneer in a timeless industry, Carvalho Fisheries offers the finest gourmet Dungeness Crab, Wild King Salmon and Albacore Tuna available to upscale restaurants, retail stores and whole foods nationwide. In a continuing effort to provide only the best of nature's bounty, Carvalho Fisheries was the first to test, classify and produce Carvalho's Certified Coastal Albacore Tuna, a "low mercury" gourmet tuna available at high-end specialty markets and natural food stores.

A passion and respect for the sea comes naturally to William Carvalho, founder of Carvalho Fisheries. Born of a bloodline that began in a fishing village in the Azores, Carvalho's Portuguese ancestors immigrated to America to work in the whaling industry in Trinidad, California. Though Carvalho's father chose to work in the timber industry in Humboldt County, California, he took his son smelt fishing on the coast every weekend. Decades later, as Carvalho walked on the beach with his wife and children, a chance meeting with a fisherman friend of his father brought William Carvalho full-circle. Now, thirteen years after that life-changing day, Carvalho Fisheries is the fourth largest producer of gourmet seafood on the West Coast.

A visionary in the industry, Carvalho Fisheries is unsurpassed in reputation and product, with a commitment to safety, quality, and to maintaining the ecological integrity of our marine resources. William Carvalho is presently working on a fisheries educational center, located in Eureka, California, that will educate seafood consumers whose choices and voices can then share in his effort to promote sustainable methods of harvest and responsible marine stewardship. Carvalho is steadfast in his belief that we can both use and protect our oceans and their resources.

As a "first receiver," with the third largest supply share on the West Coast, Carvalho's dedicated fleet of 100 vessels deliver their catch to one of six Carvalho docks, which span 300 miles of coastline, from Eureka, California, to Newport, Oregon. Carvalho's Dungeness crab is harvested November through summer, along the northern Pacific coastline. Their wild salmon and albacore tuna are caught in the azure waters of the Pacific Northwest, during a time in migration when the fish's oil content is at its highest. Carvalho fishermen employ the most ecologically responsible methods available to harvest their seafood, such as trolling for albacore and salmon, as opposed to the non-discretionary long lining and netting practices of other fisheries.

Once delivered, the choicest live, fresh and frozen seafood is then tagged and prepared for wholesale distribution to high-end restaurants and supermarkets, or sent to a specialized micro-cannery, where the sashimi-grade albacore is hand-packed raw into containers, then sealed before cooking, trapping in all the natural juices, flavor and precious omega-3 fatty acids. Distribution is handled, in part, by North Coast Seafood, out of Boston, Steve Connely Seafood, also in Boston, H & N Foods, in San Francisco, and Beaver Street Fisheries, the 9th largest US distributor, located in Jacksonville, Florida. Overseeing the process, from start to finish, is Carvalho Fisheries' Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance Director, Dave Weston, a former California FDA inspector and food processing technician. In addition to overseeing production, Mr. Weston utilizes outside laboratories for independent testing and for information on the latest research and development of upgrade technologies. Carvalho Fisheries is dedicated to providing the most healthful, ecologically sound seafood possible, with the most exquisite gourmet flavor you have ever tasted.

Carvalho Fisheries' succulent Dugeness Crab is available live, whole cooked, or fresh frozen in sections or whole. Their mild and meaty Albacore Tuna is available fresh whole, or in frozen, vacuum-sealed loins or medallions, alder smoked loin chunks, or in 7.5 ounce cans and 6 ounce jars. Their delicate, certified "low mercury" Albacore Tuna comes in 7.5 ounce cans, and their rich Wild King Salmon is offered troll-dressed or fillets. Carvalho Fisheries also offers a variety of Pacific bottom fish caught in the pristine waters off the Oregon coast.

Carvalho Fisheries' products that are available through their website:

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Carvalho Fisheries Offers Gourmet Albacore Tuna Lower In Mercury And Higher In Beneficial Oils

MCKINLEYVILLE, CA (June 2004)—Carvalho Fisheries, producers of the finest gourmet Dungeness Crab, Wild King Salmon and Albacore Tuna available, is proud to introduce Carvalho's Certified Coastal Albacore Tuna, an albacore that is lower in mercury, higher in healthful omega-3 fatty acids, and has a gourmet flavor that is unsurpassed. Carvalho Fisheries was the first to test, classify and produce a "low mercury" albacore tuna, which is now available at high-end specialty markets and natural food stores.

After the FDA issued a health warning regarding unsafe levels of methylmercury in commercial albacore, William Carvalho became concerned for his family and customers alike. Though cautioned by colleagues that conformation of such bad news may not be good for business, Carvalho immediately began testing his own products. Along with Dave Weston, the company's food safety director and former California State FDA inspector, William Carvalho embarked on a testing program in which he systematically sent samples of albacore, of varying sizes and ages, to private laboratories. This was done in California, Oregon and Washington. Test results indicated, and were later confirmed in studies done by Oregon State University, that albacore caught in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest had lower levels of mercury than the commercial albacore tested by the FDA, and that the smaller three-year-olds had significantly less mercury concentrated in the edible flesh. The average concentration for the three-year-olds fell within range of the EPA's RfD safe limit, which was adopted by the FDA and ratified by NAS in its 2000 report. Carvalho also found that albacore in this age group had higher levels of heart-healthy fish oils, including omega-3 fatty acids. Armed with a new understanding and a new vision, William Carvalho then set out to create something special.

Carvalho Fisheries' troll-caught albacore is separated by age and size at Carvalho's six Pacific Coast docks, where the three year old, nine to eleven pound sashimi-grade albacore are tagged and prepared for shipment to a micro-cannery, a specialized, limited production facility. Commercially canned tuna is usually machine-packed, meaning that the albacore is baked until dry, so a machine can pack the flesh easily, which, of course, eliminates most of the natural juices and healthful oils. Carvalho Fisheries' albacore is hand-packed. Choice, center-cut loins are hand-packed into each can, which is then sealed before cooking. There is no need for additives, such as water or soybean oil, because all the wonderful natural juices, oils and nutrients have already been sealed in, as well as the most incredible gourmet flavor you have ever tasted. As an added bonus, the omega-3 fatty acid content of raw-packed albacore is four times higher than precooked albacore. Lower in mercury, higher in nutrients, and brimming with flavor, William Carvalho and Carvalho Fisheries have succeeded in creating the caviar of tuna, Carvalho's Certified Coastal Albacore Tuna.

A pioneer in a timeless industry, Carvalho Fisheries offers the finest gourmet Dungeness Crab, Wild King Salmon and Albacore Tuna available to upscale restaurants, retail stores and whole foods nationwide, and their "low mercury" Certified Coastal Albacore Tuna can be found at high-end specialty markets and natural food stores. Unsurpassed in reputation and product, Carvalho Fisheries is committed to safety, quality, and to maintaining the ecological integrity of our marine resources. Using sustainable methods of harvest, Carvalho's dedicated fleet of 100 vessels deliver their catch to one of six Carvalho docks, then state-of-the-art technologies and superior methods of processing are employed to insure the finest, freshest quality and flavor possible. Overseeing the process, from start to finish, is Carvalho Fisheries' Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance Director, Dave Weston, a former California FDA inspector. Carvalho Fisheries' gourmet Dungeness Crab, Wild King Salmon and Albacore Tuna are available at upscale restaurants, retail stores and whole foods nationwide. Carvalho's Certified "low mercury" Coastal Albacore Tuna can be found at high-end specialty markets and natural food stores throughout the country—$4.99 to $5.49 per can. You can also purchase their canned tuna through Carvalho Fisheries' website.

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Carvalho Takes The Mercury Challenge

Some Folks see selling low-mercury albacore as capitalizing on media hype. Bill Carvalho sees it as straightforward marketing.

The Northern California processor and albacore buyer stayed out of the light in 2003, when the media circulated advocacy groups' cries of alarm about "mercury in tuna and swordfish." Instead, Carvalho decided to work with the tide.

Late in the year, he unveiled his low mercury-marketing program of canned albacore. alder-smoked albacore loin chunks, and frozen, boneless, vacuum-sealed all-white-meat albacore loins. The products are made from younger fish (not the "peanuts." or juvenile-sized fish) that are old enough to be harvested but young enough so that any methyl mercury accumulation is very low. "We can our three-year-old fish separate from the fours and fives," Carvalho says. "We pull out the 9- to 11-pounders."

According to his website, the minimal mercury products idea started in his own kitchen. The Carvalho family consumed hundreds of cans of coastal albacore a year. The constant warnings by advocacy groups such as the Mercury Policy Project and others hit close to home. His solution: to test his own products.

Carvalho isn't the first in this approach. Two albacore fishermen's groups and at least one small private label -- Tuna Guys -- have taken the trouble to test their fish. But Carvalho's move marks t a visible up-tick in efforts to market coastal albacore on the basics of its low mercury content. The coastal fleet catches a high proportion of younger albacore compared to other fisheries.
With the aid of David Weston, a retired California State health inspector now works at Carvalho's Crescent City, Calif., seafood plant. Carvalho began testing the tuna that fishermen brought in. They sent samples from Washington, Oregon and California to a private label, and the results confirmed what other labs have found: young albacore have consistently lower methyl mercury levels than the older, larger tuna.

But Carvalho wasn't satisfied. Her established his own threshold for methyl mercury in the tuna: no more then 0.3 parts per million (ppm), less than one-third of the Food and Drug Administration's recommended maximum at the time. The young albacore tested under that limit. Carvalho says his tuna is well under the FDA standard, and under the .5-ppm standard for shipment to Canada and the European Union as well.

As the albacore processing sector shrinks, competition is keen, and Carvalho says he's received criticism of this plan, mostly from fishermen or others in the seafood industry. Consumers, on the other hand, have asked him where they could find his products.

"What I believe I'm doing is offering consumers and additional choice, and that's what marketing is," says Carvalho. "Rather than deny mercury is a consumer issue. I would rather work with the consumer mind-set and give them something they didn't know they could have."

Independently, a team of researchers at the Oregon State University Seafood Lab in Astoria, Ore. tested commercial tuna and presented the results at a joint EPA-FDA toxicology conference in San Diego in January. They found methyl mercury levels of 0.027-0.26 ppm, according to a report from Dr Michael Morrissey, one of the researchers and director of the lab; the average was .14 ppm.

Results indicate that west coast troll caught albacore has low levels of mercury in the edible flesh and are well within international standards for mercury levels in fish," the report said.

Carvalho says he has only a few more months in which to work out his full marketing plan and to get the new products in stores. "Then I better have this thing marketed well."

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Taking the mercury out of tuna

Albacore caught off the coast here are smaller than those caught mainly by foreign boats, and haven’t accumulated much mercury. By singling out the smallest of the fish that are caught, Bill Carvalho of Carvalho Fisheries has canned a product that falls below even stricter European standards for mercury.

It’s a quick and savvy marketplace move, since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency will soon be warning pregnant and nursing women and young children to limit their consumption of tuna.

Carvalho’s decision to develop a low-mercury product began at home. His family was eating 200 or more cans of tuna per year. His wife, Margaret Carvalho, ate a lot of it.

And she wasn’t feeling well. She recognized her symptoms while reading a newspaper article that summarized findings in Environmental Health Perspectives. Fatigue, headache, joint pain and memory loss are among the symptoms that result from a build-up of toxic mercury.

Bill Carvalho was skeptical when he read the article. But when Margaret stopped eating tuna, she began feeling better. Doctors have documented such turnarounds.

“Then I realized that the FDA has deceived the American public,” Carvalho said.

When the nonprofit Mercury Policy Project based in Montpelier, Vt., tested canned albacore tuna in supermarkets, one-third contained more mercury than the federal government’s limit for women of child-bearing age. Mercury can harm the central nervous system of fetuses and young children.

So why isn’t there a warning posted on canned tuna, or on fish like shark and swordfish, other apex predators who build up mercury in their flesh?

Because the FDA averages light tuna and white tuna when it tests to check if it exceeds mercury limits. Light tuna is made from smaller tuna like skipjack, while white tuna is most often from large tuna, generally caught on long lines set off boats at deeper depths.

“Our fish are good fish -- young fish,” said Wayne Sohrakoff, a tuna fisherman who runs the Drifter out of Eureka.

Sohrakoff said U.S. canners like Bumblebee, Chicken of the Sea and others buy only a fraction of the production of American boats, craving the bigger tuna caught by foreign boats. People should know that the U.S. canners choose to do this and know they are producing a product with higher mercury content, he said.

It’s Spain that buys the most West Coast tuna.

The attention on mercury in tuna has the industry reeling. Industry representatives, while agreeing the FDA advisory needs to be updated to include tuna, have warned that fears of health risks will be exploited by anti-industry forces.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer has sued some grocers, demanding warnings be posted saying white tuna has more mercury in it than light tuna.

Carvalho’s development of low-mercury canned tuna began with a hypothesis. Since salmon stay at sea for only about three years, they don’t build up much mercury. Salmon also eat many of the same foods -- like herring and anchovies -- as tuna.

Carvalho thought that salmon and tuna of equal ages should accumulate about the same amount of mercury.

In 2003 Carvalho began a testing program with the involvement of FDA compliance staff. He sent samples of different-sized tuna and tuna of various ages to a private laboratory.

The smaller albacore had a little more than half the mercury of his other products, which are much lower in mercury than a typical can of big-brand white albacore on the shelf in the supermarket.

“Coastal albacore is already low in mercury,” Carvalho said. “We’ve taken it a step further.”

Carvalho drew the line at 0.3 parts per million of mercury -- using fish between 8 and 30 pounds. He wouldn’t be more specific, siting propriety. That’s less than 1/3 the FDA standard. It also puts the tuna at the level of other fish considered low in mercury.

The product, stacked in boxes at Carvalho’s McKinleyville office is called Minimal Mercury. Right now he’s selling it by the case for $95, $10 more than his earlier coastal albacore product. He aims to sell the tuna in gourmet delis and health food stores, where people are more likely to pay the $6 for a 7.5 ounce can.

While he’s leading the way, Carvalho believes the product will be copied by next year.

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Study show West Coast tuna off the mercury hook

Researchers from the university’s Seafood Laboratory last year took samples from 91 albacore tuna caught off the West Coast of the United States and Canada. They found that on average, the locally caught fish contained about a third of the mercury in solid white tuna sold in cans.

That could mean good news for the West Coast fishery, a group of small to medium-sized businesses that ply the waters about 20 to 100 miles offshore.
Despite distinct differences, the West Coast fishery took a hit along with the rest of the industry when studies of fish-eating San Francisco Bay area residents showed high levels of mercury, a toxin that in large amounts
can harm the brain and central nervous system.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had previously averaged all canned tuna, and arrived at a figure that it said poses no significant threat. But it lumped solid white tuna - generally from big tuna caught at deep depths - and skipjack tuna, a much smaller fish.

Late last year, the FDA released new information that showed white tuna had a higher mercury content than skipjack, which is sold as light tuna.
The OSU study found that West Coast albacore only contains the small amount of mercury that skipjack does, around 0.14 micrograms per gram of fish.

The traditional brands of solid white albacore use fish between 40 and 60 pounds, said Michael Morrissey, the Seafood Laboratory director, while West Coast albacore are caught at 12 to 24 pounds.

“So it would make sense that they have less mercury,” Morrissey said.
Both naturally occurring and pollution-generated mercury builds up in fish tissue over time and depending on the fish’s food source.

The levels of mercury in West Coast albacore are well within international safety standards, the abstract for the study reads.

The FDA currently recommends that pregnant and nursing women, women of child-bearing age and children shouldn’t eat swordfish, mackerel, tilefish or shark. But they can eat up to 12 ounces of other varieties of fish a week. But 4 ounces a week of white canned tuna would top the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for a 120 pound person.

Wayne Heikkila, general manager of the Western Fishboat Owners Association, said the West Coast albacore marketing association’s position is that all seafood is good for people in comparison to many other
foods.

“We’re not going to say ours is any better,” Heikkila said, “but people need to look at the numbers.” Last year West Coast fishermen caught some 16,000 tons of albacore. Much of that went to Spain, but about 5,000 tons went to Ecuador, where Starkist and Chicken of the Sea packaged it in pouches for sale on the U.S. market.

But you won’t find “West Coast Albacore” stamped on the pouch. Years ago, some of the major canners did a run of U.S. tuna and labeled it as such, and it sold well. Apparently afraid of creating a demand for a product with a relatively limited supply, the line was discontinued.

Heikkila said consumers can tell the difference by reading the label on the can or pouch. White tuna has only 1 gram of fat per serving, while West Coast albacore has 4 grams. It’s the kind of fat that doctors have been encouraging people to eat, containing omega-3 fatty acids.

Micro-canning operations have sprung up recently, selling West Coast albacore, and a market has begun to develop around vacuum-packed tuna loins that are good on the barbecue.