FAQs

Fresh

Your fresh seafood has been skin-packed to ensure you receive the high-quality seafood you have come to expect from Santa Monica Seafood. It is shipped in a thermal-lined box with frozen gel packs or dry ice to ensure your seafood arrives cold.

Both the thermal liners and skin packs are made of PET and are recyclable, helping us do our part to eliminate single use plastics.

Frozen

Your individually vacuum-packed portions are placed in a thermal-lined box with enough dry ice to ensure your seafood arrives frozen. Upon arrival, transfer your seafood to your freezer. It is normal to open your package and see no dry ice, as it may have completely sublimated during transport.

Do not handle dry ice with bare hands, as it may cause severe burns. Use tongs, an oven mitt, or other barrier to prevent direct skin contact. You may leave any remaining dry ice in the shipping container, allowing it to dissolve.

To defrost frozen seafood, remove all plastic packaging and thaw the seafood in the refrigerator for approximately six hours or overnight.

If you need to thaw the seafood quickly, remove the fish from its packaging, place it in a resealable plastic bag, such as a Ziploc, and immerse the bag in cold water for approximately 30 minutes.

We want to make sure your seafood arrives safely and quickly. Our shipping days are Monday through Wednesday. All orders placed before 12:00 p.m. PST Monday through Wednesday will ship the same day. Any order placed after 12:00 p.m. PST Wednesday through Sunday will ship on the following Monday. An estimate shipping time will be provided upon checkout. All shipments arrive within 1 to 3 days to preserve the efficacy of the dry ice.

Yes, the box and the thermal liner are curbside recyclable and can be placed in recycling bins with your other household recyclable items. If you ordered fresh fish, the skin-pack material is made of PET and is also curbside recyclable. We sometimes use frozen gel packs to maintain a safe temperature for your seafood shipment. To recycle the gel pack, empty the gel directly into the trash—as it is non-toxic and biodegradable—and recycle the plastic along with your plastic bags at your local grocery store. You can also donate the gel packs to a food bank so they can reuse them for their packages.

Our commitment to sustainability extends to keeping our oceans healthy and plastic-free. We took great care to source a thermal liner that would protect your shipment and go back into the recycling process. The thermal liner is non-toxic and made from 85% recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) content. In other words, we took discarded plastic bottles and kept them in the recycling cycle, and we will keep reusing them for many years to come. Please visit the Ocean Conservancy for information on how you can help reduce trash in our seas.

Only if you want to impress someone special with your good taste! Simply update the shipping address with your recipient’s address. Remember, you can also send a gift card by selecting an amount and adding a message, and the gift card will be emailed directly to the recipient so they can shop for their favorite seafood anytime.

We source frozen fish that is flash frozen at its peak of freshness, locking in all its flavor, nutrition, and texture. If you are interested in buying local, in-season seafood, fresh is a good option! Santa Monica Seafood has been sourcing fish for over 80 years. So whether you buy fresh or frozen from us, you can rest assured that you are getting fresh, high-quality seafood.

We are transparent about the country of origin of our products and will provide the most complete and up-to-date information about your seafood. Each product page contains all the relevant information, including the fish’s sustainability rating from Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.

We offer a variety of seafood, and the details on how the seafood was raised can be found on the product page.

Like most things in life, the answer is not simple. This is not solely a matter of good versus bad. It is a nuanced topic that requires knowledge about fishing practices and sustainability. At Santa Monica Seafood, we source the highest quality fish. Farmed fish have added nutrients in their feed and can have higher levels of heart healthy omega-3s, whereas wild-caught fish tend to be leaner. Pollutants and chemicals are strictly controlled in the aquaculture environment, producing a safe and healthy fish. On the other hand, some people prefer wild-caught fish that can have a more complex taste. Whether it is farm-raised or wild-caught, you can be certain that Santa Monica Seafood is sourcing the highest quality fish. We work hard to make sure that our suppliers are responsibly-fishing or raising fish so that the long-term viability of seafood resources are protected. You get what you pay for, and we never source “cheap” fish.

If your seafood arrived thawed or damaged, please contact us via our online form or call us at 800-969-8862. Please provide photos to help our Quality Control team assess the root cause of the problem in order to improve our processes and prevent future occurrences.

We only ship to the lower 48 states.

We do not ship to PO Boxes, FPO, or APO addresses.

If you need to cancel your order, email us at contact us via our online form or call us at 800-969-8862.