- Smoked Salmon, Anyone? Seabright Smoked Salmon Is ‘Some Blazes Good’ – Monte Snow Gets Notebook Seal Of Approval
By Andrew Macdonald
The Notebook Seal of Approval is being bestowed on Monte Snow’s smoked salmon – it is “some good”, or shall we say, ‘some blazes good”.
Snow is the co-owner of Fisherman’s Market, the retail and wholesale emporium on the Bedford HWY., that was founded before Newfoundland joined Confederation. Mersey Seafoods of Liverpool is also a co-owner, since doing a deal in 2020 to buy out now-deceased Fred Greene’s equity.
It is a delicacy, for sure, and each Christmas Holiday, I keep my smoked salmon purchases close to home.
I give smoked salmon as gifts to some of my top news sources — no names obviously can be reported upon, given the nature of journalistic confidentiality honed over a 35-year news career, which began in 1989 in industrial and gritty Port Hawkesbury.
Keeping smoked salmon purchases local is easy when the smoked salmon offered by multi-generational shop Fishermen’s Market is ‘some good’.
Monte Snow co-owns Fisherman’s Market on Bedford HWY. The Notebook photo
‘Some good’ is a Maritime term, one of those phrases which set us apart from the rest of Canada.
Fishmonger Monte Snow has a classic business development story of going from an employee in 1993 at Fisherman’s Market to now holding 49 percent equity in the firm which generates “north of $75 million” in annual sales.
“Have you ever tried Fisherman’s Market smoked salmon brand ‘Seabright’,” asked Snow, in an invite to a taste-test sent to The Macdonald Notebook in a recent year.
A worker adds wood to the oven to cook smoked salmon at Fisherman’s Market. The Notebook photo.
“We smoke it in-house at our Bedford Highway facility,” he explains.
“We carry both cold-smoked sliced salmon or hot smoked salmon in several flavours, such as maple, roasted garlic, lemon pepper, and Cajun, and we have won many of the taste tests!” he declares.
“I would be delighted if you would try it, as I think you will find it is irresistible’, he told me in 2016, the year we bestowed his product with our Notebook Seal of Approval.
“Another underrated but absolutely delicious smoked product is hot smoked mackerel and it is a great value as well.”
Smoked salmon at Fisherman’s Market is ‘Some good’. The Notebook photo
I readily accepted Snow’s invite for a taste test. I had never heard of hot smoked salmon, but fresh out of the smokehouse and served warm, it was absolutely divine.
The more common method to process smoked salmon is cold smoking and I asked Snow about the difference between hot and cold smoked salmon.
Monte tells me hot smoked fish uses a higher temperature and is best if served warm. Snow likes it with cream cheese and a bagel.
Monte Snow co-owns Fisherman’s Market on the Bedford HWY. The Notebook photo.
Snow’s salmon sales make up two percent of his total sales, and he has a smoker in the basement at Fisherman’s Market.
Along with a retail store, which dates to 1948, his business also supplies restaurants and eateries across the Maritimes.
In times before the coronavirus arrival, exporting fresh lobster had traditionally been a busy division, previously operating 24/7 with global sales.
Last Christmas, the day I popped in, live lobster was being boxed for Toronto and Montreal customers.
Smoked salmon is a popular fare over the holiday period. It’s a Maritime delicacy at Christmastime, says Snow.
“I was a little cocky when I thought you’d enjoy our smoked salmon,” Snow replied when I told him I enjoyed his taste test.
Monte Snow is a property developer and also the co-owner of Fisherman’s Market on the Bedford HWY. Notebook file photo
“We’ve won many awards for our products. We have definitely over the years had our product side by side with other companies. A lot of them do a good job, but we won a few taste tests among discerning chefs and retailers.
“It’s something we are very proud of,” adds Snow.
Fisherman’s Market plant manager Bill Langdon and his wife, Janet, who also works a the fish plant, in charge of cooking smoked salmon. The Notebook photo.
