Frequently Asked Questions
Years of shipping seafood across the country generated the same excellent questions again and again. The answers below are preserved from our original FAQ — practical knowledge that holds up whether you're ordering from a modern seafood shipper or buying at the dock.
How is ordering seafood overnight different from the supermarket?
It is a different chain of custody entirely. Seafood handled the right way is graded as it comes off the boats, hand cut, graded again, and kept under strict temperature control until it reaches your door at peak freshness. Supermarket seafood may have spent long stretches on trucks and shelves without that control — time that invites bacterial growth and decay — and may have been frozen and thawed more than once, degrading quality each time. Fresh from the source, the difference is immediate: lobster, lobster tails, crab legs, clams, oysters, salmon, tuna, smoked seafood, chowder, scallops, even caviar — all of it tastes of the ocean instead of the cooler.
Are "fresh" fillets really fresh, or previously frozen?
From a quality source, fresh means fresh: fillets cut from fish processed daily, never frozen and stored against future orders. Once you have tasted a genuinely fresh fillet, previously frozen fish is easy to spot — softer, wetter, and flatter in flavor. (Honest freezing has its place — see the blast-frozen story on our lobster meat page — but it should always be declared.)
How should seafood arrive packaged?
In a specially designed insulated foam box with frozen gel packs, set inside a corrugated shipping carton. Live lobsters travel with gel ice — never loose ice — and large orders ride in compartmented cartons so the lobsters cannot damage one another in transit. A properly packed box keeps seafood cold for a full day or more, even on a warm porch.
What should I check when a shipment arrives?
Examine the carton at once. Cold contents, intact insulation and lively lobsters are the standard. A listless lobster is generally still healthy and fine to cook — the proof is in the pot: when a healthy lobster is cooked, its tail curls tightly underneath. Any genuinely damaged shipment should be documented and reported to the shipper the same day; reputable sellers insure their seafood and stand behind every box.
Do I have to be home for delivery?
Perishable shipments are typically sent with signature waived so the courier can leave the box. Best practice is still to be home — or to warn a gift recipient to watch for the box and bring it inside promptly. The USDA's mail-order food safety guidance sets out the rule of thumb: perishables should arrive cold to the touch, and into the refrigerator they go.
What about choosing seafood as a gift?
Bundled packages take the guesswork out — a clambake for two is a complete, unforgettable evening in a box. Our seafood gifting guide covers choosing for clients, employees and the impossible-to-shop-for.
Where did Quality Fresh Seafood operate from?
Order fulfillment — packaging and shipping — ran through partners in Bourne, Massachusetts, at the gateway to Cape Cod, with lobsters held in chilled seawater tanks until the day they shipped. The full story lives on Our History page.
How long does seafood keep once it arrives?
Live lobsters: cook within 48 hours, refrigerated with moist gills. Live clams and mussels: two to three days in an open container — never sealed in plastic. Fresh fillets: one to two days, on ice in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Cooked lobster and picked meat: three to four days, airtight. Frozen items: months, at a steady zero degrees. The pattern is plain — buy close to the day you cook, and let the freezer handle ambition.
Is a sluggish lobster a dead loss?
Almost never. Lobsters slow dramatically in cold shipping boxes; that torpor is the point of the gel packs. The pot delivers the verdict: a healthy lobster's tail curls tightly under the body when cooked. A tail that curls means dinner is safe; only a lobster that arrived dead and warm should ever be discarded.