Save the Bay, Eat a Ray

by Clare Leschin-Hoar, Posted Jul 23rd 2010 @ 2:00PM

Move over Asian carp, you're not the only pesky species to be eyed by the seafood industry as a potential food source. Officials in Virginia have set their sights on the homely cownose ray, whose population has exploded, in part because of a sharp decline in their natural predator, the inland coastal shark. The population boom is bad news for valuable Chesapeake oysters, clams and scallops. Hungry rays have been known to wipe out entire shellfish beds with their powerful crushing jaws.

Mike Hutt, executive director for the Virginia Marine Products Board has been working to develop a market for the red-fleshed cownose ray (renamed a more appealing Chesapeake Ray), but don't expect it to taste like its white-fleshed cousin, skate.

"It's not flaky, and it has a texture and tastes closer to veal or beef," says Hutt.

Ray Popson, seafood manager at Wegmans in Hunt Valley, Maryland introduced the Chesapeake Ray in his store this morning by handing out tasty samples and placing a whopping 30-pound whole ray on display.

"The reaction has been incredible," says Popson. "Some people don't even know it's in the bay or what it can do."

If consumer response continues to go well, Wegmans anticipates rolling the ray out to its Maryland and Virginia stores shortly, and they're not alone in promoting the fish. Processor L.D. Amory & Company, Inc., has been breading and pre-frying strips of ray, calling the product Chesapeake Stingers; while Chef Tim Miller of restaurant Mie N Yu has been serving the ray to customers as a sushi hand roll for nearly a year.

"It's an adventurous dish for a lot of people who aren't familiar with the ray being used as a main food item. It's always on the menu with a paragraph about why we're serving it, the story behind the dish and that it's considered sustainable," says Miller.

And for now, that's true.

"There's not a big fishery for them, so by default, it's sustainable," says Braddock Spear, fisheries policy expert and blogger at Sustainable Ocean Project. "Virginia is trying to find a market for the fish and if they do, they'll put in regulations to keep it a sustainable fishery."

According to experts, that balance may be tricky to maintain. Cownose rays have an 11-month gestation period and give birth to approximately one pup a year. Harvest can take place when the females are still pregnant, effectively denting the next generation.

Filed Under: Food News, Food Politics
Tags: Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake Ray, cownose ray, fishing, skate, sustainability, Wegmans

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 2)

7-23-2010 @3:44PM Gary said... I'd try it!
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7-26-2010 @12:49PM Leila said... Most of you have already had ray. It does NOT taste like beef or veal. You know what those "scallops" are made of in cheap restaurants? Most likely they are the cheap "scallop" which are discs punched out of the ray's wing. It tastes like scallop. That's it. Further more, I've worked with these rays, specifically cownose and southern sting rays, so I think I love them too much to eat them. They are very intelligent and recognize their keepers. I would compare them to the pig of the ocean (but a lot of more graceful lol).

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7-25-2010 @4:04PM kat_De said... Simple rule: Roll with the punches.. if this is in excess and tasty.. then eat it..
I'm with you Gary.. grab the spices..
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7-26-2010 @7:26AM CINDI said... no way i'd eat that!!
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7-26-2010 @8:05AM P.J. said... Rays get ammoniated very quickly, so it better be fresh. If frozen, better eat quickly after thawing!
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7-26-2010 @9:44AM Angiebaby said... If they can eat the pesky cownose rays in Virginia, why can't they eat the pigeons in New York City?
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7-26-2010 @10:16AM lawildwoman said... The Kings of Leon are asking that same question in St. Louis, MO.

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7-26-2010 @1:20PM Numb said... People forget this, but pigeons WERE originally brought to this country as a food source... they are not native to America.

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7-26-2010 @8:41AM D said... Does ray have feet? He looks like he's standing there waiting for a bus and somebody snapped his picture.
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7-26-2010 @8:49AM Lance Dunn said... Facts about Rays you may not know:

1) Yes, rays have feet.
2) This picture was taken by his friend Ray already on the bus.
3) All Rays are named Ray, which causes no end of problems in their schools.
4) A Ray captured and eaten is called an ex-Ray, not be confused with an X-ray, which is something entirely different.
5) This particular Ray is humming, thus the expression on his face.

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7-29-2010 @8:26AM Rob G said... I went to Rays pizza once.

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7-26-2010 @11:05AM mesaman said... Lance; Your comments offered a "Ray" of hope for the fishing industry. Is the past tense of ray, raype?
Who? Ray!

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7-26-2010 @8:31AM ierrt said... in a year of killing rays that are pregnant you will no longer have a sustainable fishery. why not re-introduce the coastal sharks, that would take care of the problem in a common sense approach.
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7-26-2010 @11:03AM mln815 said... 'cause we want to eat 'em.

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7-26-2010 @12:49PM Leila said... I have this concern as well. Cownose typically only have one baby at a time.

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7-26-2010 @9:07AM Jeff Doak said... Just make sure you don't wipe them out. The proper conservation practices are essential. In all things....sustainable is key!
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7-26-2010 @9:10AM Val said... Aww...it's kind of cute. Now that they've put a face on this type of 'meat', I can't eat it!
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7-26-2010 @9:56AM ttrexxx said... so cute...and TASTY..lol I'm from maryland and we eat anything that swims.WITH OLD BAY ON IT..LOL
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7-27-2010 @1:23AM lazygenius said... It killed Steve Irwin....I say eat it!
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7-26-2010 @10:37AM Diane said... Is there ANYTHING sadder than a cow's dewy eyes ? or a little lamb's call for maaamaa ? and what about that cute, little pig squeal ? Now if you call them 'burgers', 'lamb chops' and 'bacon', that's a whole different ballgame !
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