Local Fish Processor County Catch
Sleiman Al Jasem took over the “County Catch” fish processing business from local Prince Edward County fishers in 2021 after arriving in Canada from Syria as a refugee. His focus is purchasing, processing and selling locally caught Whitefish, yellow and White Perch, and Pickerel harvested from the Bay of Quinte and Lake Ontario surrounding Prince Edward County. Demand is never an issue, it’s the lack of a regular supply that concerns Sleiman. Most of the fish caught in the area are transported whole to a processing plant near Lake Erie where they are processed and exported to markets like China. Sleiman is our guest on the Blue Fish Radio Show where we caught up to him at the Pickton local market.