TAMPA, Fla. — As tariffs roil markets, Floridians are looking closer to home to buy their favorite seafood.
Florida ranks fifth across the country for the most landed commercial seafood in 2023, bringing in more than $286 million in wholesale value.
Watch full report from Michael Paluska
As the tariff turmoil continues, there is a renewed push to support local, fresh-from-Florida seafood.
ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska took us behind the scenes and showed us the best places to find the freshest fish, starting from the catch to the table.
We start at Jensen Bros. Seafood in Dunedin. The mom-and-pop fish house has been in business since 1984 with modest beginnings.
"My dad started in the back of his pickup truck," Jensen said. "Mississippi catfish and rainbow trout. He was one of the sole providers for a long time."
Jensen also operates Carvor's Fish House next door, where grouper fresh from the boat is filleted on-site and then served in grouper sandwiches.
"This is what we use for our homemade grouper sandwiches next door," Jensen said while holding a giant fresh grouper. "Everything's completely cut, seasoned, prepared to order. Nothing comes in frozen for any fish that we serve. So we really pride ourselves on that. That's why a lot of people say we have one of the best grouper sandwiches, if not the best grouper sandwich in the area."
The commercial fishermen that businesses like Jensen support are more critical than ever.
In Cortez, at AP Bell Fish, Paluska met with Nathan Meschelle, owner of InSeine Fish Harvest and Vice President of the Organized Fishermen of Florida.
"It's either feast or famine," the husband and father of two small children told Paluska.
"There's just a small, small amount of us that are just actually making it. I just stuck with the fishing and through the ups and the downs, you know, I, you know, I'm a God-fearing man, so I put a lot of my faith in, you know, knowing that God will always pull me through whatever and I need to get through it," Meschelle said.
"When I go to a grocery store, I always specifically look at fish caught in Florida. Do you think a lot of people do that, or more people should?" Paluska asked.
"I wish a lot of people would do a lot better job at doing that, rather than just looking for what's on sale," Meschelle said.
Paluska decided to put that logic to the test and headed to Whole Foods. We interviewed Rey Martinez, the seafood team leader at the Midtown Tampa location. Martinez told Paluska customers are yearning for fresh seafood from Florida and are starting to look at where it is sourced over price. Oftentimes, there is so much Florida seafood it goes on sale more often than frozen imports.
"I have our local grouper that's coming from Madeira Beach as well. Right now, groupers are on sale; it's part of our yellow tag," Martinez said.
"That's a really good price on grouper," Paluska said.
"That's the fan favorite here in Tampa," Martinez said with a laugh.
"That redfish was probably swimming less than a week ago," Paluska said.
"Yes, it was, yes, it was very lively. Now it's gonna be dinner," Martinez said, smiling.
The store sources fish from Marathon, Key West, Madeira Beach, and other locations in season, depending on their specific catch.
"You guys are trying to support these local fisheries?" Paluska asked.
"Absolutely? Yeah, it's a big, it's a big part of our DNA. At Whole Foods Market, there are a lot of local products throughout the store. It's not just the seafood department. We do take pride in our local. Local products that come in, we try to keep it as fresh as possible," Martinez said.
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