According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico hasn’t stopped seafood suppliers from raising their prices a bit in anticipation of a smaller supply of shrimp, oysters, blue crabs and snapper. Jim Catanese, president of Catanese Classic Seafoods on the East Bank of the Flats, said that the prices for shucked oysters and Gulf shrimp have jumped as much as 15 percent.
Seafood dealers have to buy several thousand pounds of Gulf shrimp, but even now it is on hold. Eric Schmiedl, general manager of Don’s Lighthouse on Cleveland’s Near West Side, has seen the same thing. He told that even though most of the shrimp sold in the U.S. doesn’t come from the Gulf area, we did notice our prices going up from $7.50 to $8 a pound.
Don’s Lighthouse serves fresh oysters, grouper, tile fish and several kinds of snapper from the Gulf, but Schmiedl said he won’t raise his menu prices unless he’s forced to. Freeman Ngo, chef and owner of Pacific East sushi and Japanese restaurant in Cleveland Heights, and co-owner of Pacific East’s sister restaurants in Woodmere and Solon, where seafood makes up more than half the menu, hasn’t seen any increase in his wholesale prices yet.
