Cooper Farms: - Urner Barry Publications, Inc.

Right: High yields are crucial in the fish
business—the higher the yield, the more
money can be made.
Below: Whole salmon. Much of today’s
salmon is filleted by machine; however,
Fusco does all his salmon filleting by hand.
the belly area, and repeated the process on
the bottom side of the fish yielding two
fillets. He explained that the fillet meat of
this type of fluke
yielded about
“The
47% meat from yield was
a wholefish. He explained to
and Marty both
the Reporter
stressed that yield
as the
(the percentage of
meat weight that percentage
comes from each of meat
fish) is crucial in weight that
the fish business comes from
as the higher the each fish.”
yield, the more
money can be made. Marty interjected
that in tough economic times, like what
most businesses have experienced of
late, it is critical to get the highest yields
possible and every tiny piece of meat
that is missed, can affect the bottom
dollar. Marty Bailey boasted about the
magnificent yields that Fusco gets from
every species he fillets. Bailey also praised
Fusco’s abilitiy at being able to be good at
filleting a variety of species.
demonstration by filleting
salmon, and explained that
much of today’s salmon is
filleted by machine; however,
he does all his salmon filleting
by hand. He began by laying
the fish on a clam net to
prevent it from slipping. The
process that Fusco describes as
“riding the bone” appears to
be similar to his previous demonstration.
What differed in this process was that he
removed all the pinbones from the center
of each fillet by using needle-nose pliers.
Fusco explained that customers prefer his
method over machinery because he does
not make any noticeable alterations to the
meat. The Reporter was told that the yield
of a gutted salmon on average was
76%. Fusco continued with gray
tilefish, Silk red snapper, cod, and
swordfish. Each species had certain
intricacies that only a master such
as Jimmy would be able to quickly
identify. Bailey explained that it is
rare to find someone like Fusco who
can successfully fillet many species of
fish and achieve high meat yields on all of
them. Fusco said, referring to filleting, “It’s
an art, it’s definitely an art.”
Collectively, Bailey and Fusco were able
to rattle off the origins of each fish,
the yield percentage of meat from each
species and details about the texture,
flavor and uses of each. The business
could not be named more appropriately
because the tremendous pride displayed
by both gentlemen was quite apparent and
refreshing.
To view the detailed demonstrations of
Jimmy filleting fish, visit our interview
on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/
watchv=9LVpbQRiyCY.UB
Fusco then demonstrated the filleting of
halibut, a much larger flatfish. For this
species he used a much larger knife. He
also explained that when he hits the spine
bones in the center of the fillet, he tilts his
knife upward and then over and down to
get as close to the bone as possible without
leaving any valuable meat behind. Halibut
arrives at their location, headed and
gutted and Bailey reported that Fusco’s
yield is about 70%. Fusco continued his
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VOL. 6, NO. 1 / WINTER 2011 / URNER BARRY’S REPORTER • 23