While we supply Portland’s most sought after restaurants with lobster, guess who supplies them with fresh fish? George Parr from Upstream Trucking, Portland Maine's premiere fishmonger. Because of our commitment to serving you only the highest quality catch, George is our only supplier for fresh catch fish.
Meet George Parr, Portland Maine's most prestigious fishmonger
In a past interview with Maineboats.com, George described diving into the seafood industry in the 70's when he took a job cutting fish at a local supermarket. In the early 1980s, Parr began selling fish at a major seafood market in New York City, and by the late 80's he was a noted seafood broker/distributor, trading in high end delicacies such as caviar, and providing Maine sea urchins to the Japanese market. Sea urchins were so popular in Japan back then, that Parr was able to build a successful career around serving this market. Years later, when the sea urchin "gold rush" waned, Parr had to swiftly switch gears.
Return to familiar waters...
Parr navigated his way back to fish mongering in 2001, and started a partnership with the owner of two renowned fine seafood restaurants in Portland, Maine. This business, Upstream Trucking, would go on to become a leading fresh fish provider for the finest restaurants in Portland. Our "gold-standard" local seafood restaurants trust Parr's decades of expertise and rely on his team to deliver hand-selected, fresh, premium quality product. And since we provide only the best for our customers, we only source our fresh fish from George Parr.The Gulf of Maine has deep roots in the fish and seafood industry
Fishmongering has long been a part of our history here in Maine. Since European explorers came to the coast of Maine back in the 1600’s (predating the Pilgrim’s settlement) the wealth of our fishing grounds has been legendary across the Atlantic. In fact, our hometown Portland, Maine was founded over 350 years ago by the British as a fishing center to capitalize on these stocks. Today, it remains a vital port and source of some of the best seafood in the world.
Along with our cold, nutrient rich waters and local day-boat fleets with easy access to our shores, the handling of the catch is also critical for the quality Maine seafood is known for worldwide. Because fish in Maine are landed so quickly, fishmongers, like George Parr, can immediately fillet them and sell them the same day. Located only a few blocks away from us, on a Portland wharf, Parr's team hand-fillets our orders in the morning the day the order ships to our customers. This means unbeatable freshness when you receive it on the next day.