Florida seafood companies top 25 million in sales at Seafood Expo North America

The Florida Department of Agriculture is recognizing nine Florida seafood companies, including Water Street Seafood in Apalachicola and Woods Fishery in Port St. Joe, which took part in the Seafood Expo North America this month. 

This was the 24th year the Department of Agriculture has worked to bring Florida seafood suppliers to the event.

It’s the largest seafood show in North America, with more than 1,000 exhibitors and 19,000 buyers from 100 countries.

The nine Florida companies sold more than $25 million dollars worth of seafood products at the three-day Show.

On display were snapper, grouper, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, spiny lobster, stone crab claws, farm-raised shrimp, oysters, farm-raised clams, blue crab and wild-caught shrimp.

Chef Justin Timineri, Florida’s Culinary Ambassador, also cooked and offered samples to interested buyers.

Besides Water Street Seafood and Woods Fishery, the other companies taking part in the event included Ariel Seafoods, Frenchy’s Stone Crab Company, Rod’s Seafood, Southeastern SeaProducts and Sun Shrimp.

Florida ranks among the top 12 states in the nation for fresh seafood production.

Florida fishermen harvest more than million pounds of seafood annually including all of the nation’s spiny lobster, 97 percent of stone crabs and 84 percent of grouper, pompano, mullet, pink shrimp and Spanish mackerel. 

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