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Learn how to buy the best fresh seafood

Seafood is an extremely perishable food, so it's vital to know how to buy it fresh. Look for fish with clear, slightly bulging eyes. The flesh should be firm and shiny and the gills pink or red, without slime. When you press the flesh of the fish, it should spring back.

I recommend: iSeafood offers good tips on finding fresh fish and other seafood online. ChefTalk.com provides excellent information on making sure you only prepare fresh seafood for your customers.

Store seafood products to maintain freshness

Once you've purchased fresh seafood, you've got to keep it that way. Refrigerated seafood should be kept at a temperature of 32 degrees F. and must be used within two days. Frozen fish should be stored at 20 degrees below F, and you can keep it at that temperature for six months if it's commercially frozen.

I recommend: The U.S. Department of Commerce offers a good guide to storing fish and other seafood. Culinate also provides great information on buying and storing fresh seafood.

Prepare your own seafood for maximum flexibility

Preparing fish needn't be complicated. And if you understand the basics of preparation, you'll have more options open to you when you're buying fresh fish. For example, if you learn how to debone, you'll be able to buy whole fish and cut it any way you like.

I recommend: Gorton's Fresh Seafood offers some great guides to preparing fish and seafood, including an article on how to clean and debone. GoogoBits.com also provides information on scaling, deboning and cooking seafood.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  One of the very best tips for buying the freshest seafood is to avoid a fishy odor. That may seem counter-intuitive, but fishy smells do not develop until fish or seafood has been sitting around for a while.

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Offer the most popular seafood products

There is a large variety of seafood readily available to the average restaurateur. Among the most popular are shrimp, crab, tuna, cod, salmon, scallops, clams, crayfish, lobster and mussels. For the more exotic palate find octopus, squid (calamari), caviar and exotic fishes like shark. Decide on the seafood you are going to offer based on the theme of your restaurant, your budget for seafood imports and your local variety.

I recommend: Cookery Online offers seafood information in the way of cuts and folds of fish, with pictures, and an extensive alphabetical listing of seafoods, basic physical characteristics and preparation tips. Visit iSeafood's Learning Center for ways to prepare the most popular of seafood varieties and information about seafood in general.

Spot fresh, high-quality seafood when selecting what to buy for your customers

For the freshest quality seafood available, shop at a local fish market if you live in a city with one. Get there early, as the boats come in before dawn. Seafood should never actually smell like fish; it should have a slightly sweet sea smell. The skin on fish should be firm and the eyes bright, not cloudy. For shellfish, look for bright colors and no visible damage to the shell.

I recommend: Whole Foods offers great information about properly purchasing seafood and what to look for in high quality, fresh seafood. Pike Place Market is one of the most-renowned fish markets, located in Seattle, Washington, it offers a large variety of local, fresh, high-quality seafood.

Find seafood distributors and get the best deal

Shop seasonally for the best value and to offer your patrons a fresh seafood experience. They will also appreciate the variety in the menu from season to season. There are many seafood importers, seafood exporters and seafood wholesalers, as well as fish markets from which to choose.

I recommend: Try The Fresh Lobster Company to buy seafood wholesale; they carry fresh fish as well as gourmet desserts and marinated meats. Always Fresh Fish processes more than 50,000 pounds of fresh fish each week, so they can easily handle anything from a smaller wholesale order (a minimum of 20 pounds is required for wholesale pricing) to volume ordering. Pacific Seafood is a major distributor of fresh fish in the western U.S. and Gordon Food Service offers a wide variety of wholesale fish choices in Canada, and the U.S. Midwest and Sourth. For frozen shellfish or prepared breaded fish portions, try some of the big names in wholesale foods, Sysco or Performance Food Group.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Build a strong relationship with your fish importers for great deals, fast service and exclusive information.

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Understand terms related to cut used by seafood wholesalers

Although some terminology used to describe seafood cuts may seem obvious ('whole' refers to a whole fish, for example), others may not be so clear. For example, 'GG' means a whole fish with the gut removed, 'HG' refers to a whole body of fish that's gutted with the head cut off, 'butterfly' means the fish still has its head but has been gutted and split, and 'butterfly fillets' are gutted, headless fish that have been split.

I recommend: CookeryOnline.com offers a comprehensive, illustrated glossary to seafood cuts, while Mures Tasmania provides a short list of terminology wholesalers may use to describe cuts.

Learn about fish types offered by fresh fish suppliers

Even if you think you know your fish, it's a good idea to review a glossary of fish types. And when you run across a fish name that's unfamiliar, it's vital to the quality of your food business to do some research into what you may be buying.

I recommend: For an excellent, illustrated glossary of seafood types, see THE NIBBLE. Here, you'll see photographs and read entries on just about any type of seafood you can imagine, from abalone to whiting. Gorton's of Gloucester also offers a seafood glossary that includes tips on how to buy and prepare various types of seafood.

Look up miscellaneous terms used by fish importers and wholesalers

Seafood is a vast industry, so it wouldn't be surprising if you run across terms not related to type or cut. You may already know that 'aquaculture' refers to cultivating and regulating fish on farms, but you may not know that 'belly burn' is when a fish's rib bones poke into its belly, often indicating the fish wasn't fresh when processed.

I recommend: Anthony's Seafood offers a great glossary of seafood terms that are difficult to find elsewhere. Blue Marlin Seafood also has a good seafood glossary.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When working with seafood distributors, you may find yourself confused about the difference between 'filet' and 'fillet.' They actually mean the same thing. ('Filet' is the French spelling.) A filet or fillet is a fish slice that's irregular in size and is usually 2 to 12 oz.

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Find out the right way to buy seafood products

Discover what to look for when you are purchasing frozen and fresh seafood. Be on the look out for telltale signs that a fish may have been left out for too long and not safe for purchase and consumption.

I recommend: Read the Simply Seafood Complete Guide to Fish & Shellfish Part 1 on buying and handling. Discover from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) how to safely select seafood. Take a look at the Consumer Tips For Purchasing High Quality Seafood from the Seafood Network Information Center. All of this information is not only pertinent for consumers but also for fresh fish suppliers and seafood companies who are educating their staff on what fish to weed out of their sales inventory.

Learn about proper handling of seafood products

Proper handling of seafood products begins with the preparation and ends all the way down to the storage of the leftovers. Avoid contamination of your meat by following proper safety protocol.

I recommend: Take a look at the handling and storage information from the Delaware Sea Grant, University of Delaware. RecipeTips.Com also offers insightful information on seafood information regarding storage.

Brush up on wholesale seafood safety, rules and quality

Becoming an expert on seafood quality is a skill that can benefit seafood importers, the seafood exporter, those who select the fish for restaurants as well as those who prepare it. Quality is everything the consumer, so those dealing with wholesale seafood should be knowledgeable about what the concerns and rules in this field should be.

I recommend: Learn about the University of Florida's push to adapt the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program. Find out more about the HACCP from the US FDA. Take a look at the link to wholesale seafood laws in Georgia from the Georgia Department of Agriculture.