In the late 2000s, Bryan Szeliga took up fly fishing while living in Portland, Oregon, and attending culinary school. He was looking for steel-head and salmon but caught something much bigger: a desire to turn the seafood industry into everything it could—and should—be.
“That’s when I realized the gap between what’s said about seafood and the reality on the water—issues like Indigenous rights, hatcheries, and pollution and the need for farm-raised salmon,” he says. It led to the launch of Fishtown Seafood.
Szeliga’s concept started as a home-delivery service during the pandemic and opened its first brick-and-mortar in 2022. With two Philadelphia locations in Fishtown and Fitler Square, Szeliga finally crossed the Delaware to downtown Haddonfield in November 2024.
Szeliga describes Fishtown Seafood as “new school seafood,” meaning he’s focused on freshness, sustainability, and quality. “We don’t use the traditional counter with fish fillets on ice,” he says. “We use proper refrigeration to maintain freshness.” Szeliga adds that Fishtown Seafood is a chemical-free shop, removing practices like adding carbon monoxide to tuna for color—it’s common in the United States but banned in Canada, Japan, and the European Union. “We’re committed to doing things better.”
Fishtown Seafood carries products including fresh oysters, scallops, and sushi-grade fish, plus less-familiar offerings like whole octopus, eel, and caviar. The shop’s “super frozen” seafood is chilled to -76° Fahrenheit, completely stopping its decomposition process and rendering it as fresh as possible. Szeliga sources from small-scale and women-owned businesses for additional items the store sells, including pastas, oils, and sauces, to help support the local economy.
Szeliga says it was only a matter of time until he set up shop in the Garden State. “New Jersey was on my radar before we opened in Fitler Square,” he says, referring to the brand’s second location. Eventually, Szeliga revisited the Jersey idea, and he found its new home in Haddonfield. “Seven weeks after signing the lease, we were open.” —Julia Mullaney
Fishtown Seafood | 114 Kings Hwy East, Haddonfield
856.528.7068 | fishtownseafood.com
