I’ve been in the seafood industry since 1989.  I started with a small regional wholesale/retail outfit here in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon,U.S.A.  I remember the very first day that I worked in the seafood industry.  My job for the day (the entire day) was to belly ice totes of fresh halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis).  This first assignment at my new job was about as enjoyable as eating pond scum!  But I survived and went back the next day, and the next until I was hooked on being a fishmonger.  It’s funny, but it didn’t really take that long to be fully captivated.  It was so different from other jobs that I held, and I got to sample some of the best seafood and smoked fish that I’ve ever eaten.

In the fall of 1989 I entered college to study, guess what, fisheries and wildlife!  I worked part-time in the seafood business peddling product to customers, while at school I was studying the biology, morphology, physiology, and habitats of many of the fish species I was selling.  It was a great mixture of hands-on experience and text book knowledge of what I was starting to love.

Also, I was learning that customers held an interest in learning more about the fish they were buying to feed their families.  This is the first time I learned that I like to share information with others about what I know about seafood.  My passion for seafood and the industry continues to grow.  Each and every day, I learn something new about the profession that chose me and that continues to enrich my life.

Thus, Seafood University.com was born from these passions and of the love and wonder of what our seas and innovations have to offer.

Happy Fishing,

Mike