Southport Magazine

Local shop, Haag & Sons brings us the best of local fresh catch

Story by Kass Fincher

Most local residents know about Haag & Sons Seafood on Oak Island, the  home of many fresh seafood choices and cut-to-order service. But not  everyone knows the story of owner Jon Haag, whose early love of marine  life continues to drive his advocacy for the local seafood industry.

Originally from Long Island, Haag grew up fishing and clamming with  his dad and a friend who was a commercial fisherman. “He exposed me to  commercial fishing,” Haag relates. “We’d go over to Fire Island and in  shallow waters we would pull a seine net through grass. As a  nine-year-old kid, I couldn’t believe the amount of sea life coming out of there! I was always intrigued by hat was under the water. When  you’re on a boat, most people are looking at the horizon, but I was  looking at the water wondering what’s under it.” 

Haag’s father was an orthopedic surgeon – a profession that Jon  thought he would pursue. “I thought that I would be a doctor,” he  said. “I used to make rounds with him. I went to Vanderbilt as  pre-med, but after being stuck inside in labs, I kept looking for a  way out. It just wasn’t for me. I just wanted to get back to the water.”

And that’s what he did. After a stint in California, Haag came back to  the East Coast and began exploring the coastal communities from New England to the Carolinas. When he came to the low country of Charleston, he was done. “I fell in love with that place,” he said. “That old maritime history, the historical imperative. I decided I’d move to Charleston.” Haag applied for jobs with the state in Marine Resources, but at the time they had no openings so he went back to fishing – working on a shrimp boat and gill netting. Finally a job came through as a technician working with fishermen out of Georgetown, catching Atlantic sturgeon.

The work was interesting but the money was not. Haag decided to go back to fishing, working on the Edisto River, fishing sturgeon, shrimp and shellfish. A little later, he accepted a position with Hieronymous Seafood in Wrightsville Beach, hauling shrimp from Charleston. It was there that Haag learned the retail business, working two years for Harvey Hieronymous at their location beside the Bridge Tender.

A friend called and asked Haag to join him in a venture in Southport, a fish house to be called Southport Fish, on property (now Fishy Fishy) owned by Thad Eure, owner of the popular Angus Barn in Raleigh. 

But Eure’s death led to the property being sold, so Haag moved on to start a new venture. “I partnered with another guy to start Forty Fathoms, where Flava’s is now,” he said. “We bought from American Fish and Southport Fish, and all up and down the coast. We started hauling fish inland to the Piedmont area. It was the initial phase of the farm to fork movement, trying to market fish locally instead of shipping it up north. At that time all these inland restaurants were buying frozen fish from all over, and we wanted to support the local fishing industry. There were maybe eight of us that started doing that, and we did really well.”

Prior to that effort, many dealers from the south had been selling primarily into New York and Canadian markets, but as these areas got over-supplied, the prices went down and the dealers realized they needed to tap more local markets. The local fishing industry was also facing two other challenges: increased regulations and overseas competition.

The federal regulations, meant to conserve species habitats and prevent overfishing, often caused the fishermen to come out on the wrong side of economic opportunity. “Even now with our snapper-grouper fishery, we have quotas and catch limits and closures,” Haag said. “We have 105 species here locally that are controlled by catch limits and quotas. Before that, there was a proliferation of fish everywhere.  

“That initial phase of fishing laws really started reducing the fishing  fleet and we started losing product.”

The overseas competition has been a tough challenge as well. “Ninety percent of the seafood consumed now in the U. S. is imported – from Asia, Central and South America,” Haag said. “We’re competing globally to supply local markets.”

But a positive trend is the public interest in local sources for seafood. Haag says the issue, however, is that sometimes consumers don’t buy the more unfamiliar species that local retailers may have more of. “We have unique species here; we’re at the northern range of tropical species. You get up to Hatteras and it’s completely different. My bread and butter for years was grouper, but now because of quotas, it’s other less well known fish like triggerfish. We’re trying to come up with other underutilized species, but the challenge is getting the public to buy those and accept them.”

Haag says chefs are the key. With an innovative approach to seafood consumers may not be familiar with, a creative chef can spark interest in new species. “Paul Proudhomme in New Orleans did that with blackened redfish. He took all this red drum, changed the spices and made it popular, creating value. That’s what has to happen.”

Haag bought his current building 25 years ago. Known not only for his  fresh catch and custom cut-to-order, Haag has a laser-focus on customers, offering recipe suggestions for the seafood they purchase.  

Many of his staff have been with him for years. “We’re like a family here; I buy from local fish houses and a handful of fishermen who come direct to me,” he says. “We want to support our fishing community. Even though it’s dwindled in size and number, we don’t want to see it go away.”

Haag is a member of Brunswick Catch, a nonprofit aimed at sustaining the livelihood and heritage of the local seafood industry. You can read more about the heyday of the local fishing industry; when you head to Haag’s, pick up a copy of “Back in the Day in Brunswick County,” by Jimmy and May Moore. Through its stories and photographs, the book captures the lively maritime activity once animating our waterfront. Proceeds are donated to Brunswick Catch. 

We seafood lovers can also support Brunswick Catch by asking for local seafood. At our seafood retailers, markets and restaurants, we can play a role by supporting this long tradition of fishing here on our beautiful coastal shores. Just ask for what’s local; do your part.

Haag and Sons

7901 East Oak Island Drive

Oak Island

910-278-1234

Monday – Thursday
11 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Friday – Saturday
9 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday 10 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.