Before sunrise, while New York City sleeps, the Fulton Fish Market roars to life—1,000-pound bluefin tuna and a 25-pound lobster!
If you’ve ever eaten fish in the NYC area, this is where its journey began.
This is the best fish market documentary I’ve seen.
I’ve added it to my ranking of “The Best Fishing Documentaries” (up to 27 now!).
Watch “Fulton Fish Market (1946)”
You can watch it for free on YouTube at
Ratings:
- My Rating: 90/100
- IMDB Rating: na
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: na
Release Date: 1946
My Review of “Fulton Fish Market (1946)”
The Setup
“Fulton Fish Market” is an 11-minute short film from 1946, made by Emerson Yorke Studio.
It was released by Young American Market Films as an educational movie.
The narrator, Chet Santon, explains how seafood is caught, sold, and delivered to New York City. The doc was made with help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New York Department of Markets.
You Can’t Make This Sh*t Up
- A 25-pound lobster appears early in the film. Bluefin tuna is said to be the biggest fish sold at the market, with some weighing a massive 1,000 pounds.
More Highlights from the Doc
- The doc even shows huge green sea turtles, which were sold at the market back then.
- Oysters are grown like vegetables! Farmers plant them and harvest them when they’re the right size.
- The film shows an electric fish scaler—something many people probably didn’t know existed back then.
- A band saw slices through frozen fish like butter—an impressive but chilling sight.
- Radio stations report daily fish prices so buyers know what to expect.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- The film shows where different fish come from: trout and flounder from the North, haddock and cod from the Atlantic, and red snapper from the Gulf of Mexico.
- Fishermen off the Northeast Coast use massive nets to catch fish, pulling in their haul by hand.
- A fishing boat captain personally delivers his receipts to the wholesalers, showing how direct the seafood trade was back then.
Wrap Up
“Fulton Fish Market” is like a time machine that takes you back to 1946 to see how New York City got its seafood.
It’s a short and sweet doc for those of us who love New York or like to know how industries work.
Thanks for reading!
Rob Kelly, Chief Maniac, Daily Doc