Kathleen's Catch

Our mission is simple: to provide the best products and service to our customers at the lowest prices possible. We take great pride in our company, our commitment to customer service and in the products we sell.

It seems illogical that the freshest fish is available in Atlanta, but here is why it is true. Atlanta has long been the transportation hub of the south - did you know Atlanta's original name was Terminus because it was the center of railroad activity in the south? Even today, people all over the country say that to get anywhere in the US you have to go through Hartsfield Jackson Airport first. Well, it’s the same with seafood! Direct flights from Boston, MA or Anchorage AL mean that lobster, haddock or salmon can come out of the water one day and be on a plane to Atlanta the next day.

Kathleen's Catch uses the largest full-line processor and distributor of more than 1,000 fresh, frozen, smoked and specialty seafood items in the Southeast. And since Kathleen’s Catch receives fish every day (except
Sunday) fish gets to you within a day or two of when it arrives in Atlanta. That’s almost as fresh as if you were sitting at a dockside restaurant in Boston!

Kathleen sources local and regional seafood whenever possible, but whether it is Carolina flounder,Florida grouper, or swordfish from Central America, the ability to get it to your door in Atlanta is enhanced by the proximity to truck and air transportation here.

Kathleen’s Catch fish arrives at our processor as whole fish. They are inspected for signs of freshness such as red gills, clear eyes, clean abdominal cavities, firmly adhered scales and no signs of "off" odor. Most seafood distributors are not processors so they are buying fish that is already cut up which is simply not as good. Once the fish is off the bone and without its skin (the ultimate protective packaging), the air gets to the meat and bacteria goes to work. The less time between when it is cut off the bone and when it is consumed, the better it tastes. The fish you get from Kathleen's Catch is very fresh and handled perfectly.



Why not just buy at a grocery store?

- Sometimes it takes several days to get fish to the grocery store from its source. First it goes to the processor. Then it goes to the grocery warehouse. Then it gets on a truck and travels to the store and finally it sits and waits for you to come to the store to buy it – this can take several days!

- Grocery stores don't usually sell everything they receive every day so the fish is kept overnight or even for days while it is transferred back and forth between the seafood case and the coolers that hold the fish at night. Temperature control is inconsistent which affects its freshness.

- In grocery stores, quality is often secondary to price. This results in more imported products (including products from Asia), more previously frozen products or fish with additives to add water weight or to extend their shelf life.

- Everything we sell at Kathleen's Catch is all-natural and chemical free. And our shrimp counts are real. When you buy 16-20 count shrimp at Kathleen's, you get 16 to 20 shrimp! Most retailers sell shrimp and scallops that have been soaked in sodium tri-polyphosphate, a chemical commonly used in laundry detergent. It is supposedly used as a preservative and, in fact, does allow shrimp and scallops to remain in the freezer for up to 18 months (!), but it does so by making them soak up water. This is added weight that you pay for and the taste of the shrimp and scallops is altered to a soapy flavor. In fact, if you run water on these, soap suds, looking strangely enough like laundry detergent, foam up in the sink.

As for shrimp counts - 16 to 20 count shrimp at some retailers might include a few big shrimp and a lot of small ones. Count 'em, you'll see.

- Kathleen's Catch sells many of the most popular species of fish as portions. This way you get perfectly trimmed, consistently-sized fish with no bones and no skin. No waste!! Other retailers might appear to have lower prices, but keep in mind that a whole, skin-on fillet will include the 12% that is the skin you throw away. Then factor in further trimming of fat, belly, bloodline, collar sections and tail sections and you will see that you are paying for a lot of the fish that gets thrown away. At Kathleen's Catch, when you buy portions you get the very best part of the fish.

- Kathleen's Catch sells only Maine lobster tails that are 100% chemical-free and nitrogen frozen. Other retailers sell lobster tails (even those sold as all-natural) that are brine frozen. They are soaked in salt water which is refrigerated to around 20 degrees. When the lobster tails are lifted out of the brine and hit the air, they freeze. All of the water that has collected under the shell stays inside and the meat itself absorbs some of the water. These tails weigh more because of this added water and you pay more for the added weight. The taste of these tails is much saltier than the sweet, natural flavor of Maine lobster.

- Kathleen's Catch sells live lobster by pre-order only. They are freshly caught and delivered from Maine three times a week. Other retailers sell lobster from their lobster tanks. Lobsters do not eat after they have been taken out of the ocean so lobsters who have been hanging out in tanks in grocery stores are surviving by living on their own meat. The longer they spend in the tank, the skinnier they get on the inside. Who knows how long that lobster has been living in that tank and how skinny it is on the inside?


Kathleen’s Catch continues to focus on sourcing products that are:

- available fastest out of the water. Florida grouper rather than South American grouper, is one example.

- sourced from fisheries which are strictly controlled and maintain a sustainable resource. For example, halibut and salmon come from well-managed, US fisheries whenever possible.

Kathleen’s Catch ... fresh fish fast.



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