{"id":147922,"date":"2026-03-25T11:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/147922\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T11:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:21:11","slug":"iceland-to-pittsburgh-connection-is-strong-during-fish-fry-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/147922\/","title":{"rendered":"Iceland-to-Pittsburgh connection is strong during fish fry season"},"content":{"rendered":"

From parish halls to fire departments, fish at the center of one of the region\u2019s most beloved traditions<\/a> during Lent is hauled from icy waters around Iceland and the Faroe Islands and shipped thousands of miles before landing on a Styrofoam plate in West View or Deutschtown. This year, those dinners may cost more amid tight global supply for fish.<\/p>\n

In Western Pennsylvania, fish from far-flung regions is a major fundraiser for churches and community organizations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our second biggest fundraiser,\u201d said William Morgan, office manager and junior vice commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3414 in Latrobe. The first biggest is a gun bash. \u201cThey literally run neck and neck. They both bring in about the same amount of money,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fish fry revenue supports the organization\u2019s operation costs and programs, including a free monthly breakfast for veterans year-round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the Catholic tradition, Lent is a 40-day season of preparation for Easter marked by prayer and fasting. Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent \u2014 which ends April 2, a practice that has turned Friday fish fries into a regional staple.<\/p>\n

\"\"Henry Dewey, owner of Penn Avenue Fish Company, holds up a piece of cod on Feb. 9, which arrives fresh from Massachusetts. The optimal time to eat a fish is two or three days after it\u2019s caught, according to Dewey. \u201cI tell people it\u2019s like a banana,\u201d he said. \u201cYou got to let it ripen up a little bit.\u201d Photo by Hannah Frances Johansson \/ Pittsburgh Media Partnership Newsroom.<\/p>\n

While the tradition feels hyperlocal<\/a>, the supply chain isn\u2019t. Much of the cod and haddock served in Pittsburgh-area fish fries travels from Massachusetts, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and even the Bering Sea \u2014 a global journey that now shapes prices, menus and profits for a cherished Lenten ritual.<\/p>\n

Cod is the most common fish used for Lent fish fries, followed by haddock, several organizers say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dave Eifler runs the fish fry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Saint Teresa of Avila Campus, in West View. He hosts a taste test in December to determine that year\u2019s fish fry fish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a few years in a row, the winner has been a frozen-at-sea Icelandic cod, sold by Nappies Food Service in Oakdale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, it was the most expensive,\u201d Eifler said, adding that he doesn\u2019t compromise on quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dinners this year are $16 and include a choice of entr\u00e9es plus two sides \u2014 French fries, baked potato, macaroni and cheese or coleslaw.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Inside Robert Wholey & Co. Inc. in the Strip District. Photo by Hannah Frances Johansson \/ Pittsburgh Media Partnership Newsroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to keep our prices as low as we possibly can, and still show a nice, decent profit,\u201d Eifler said.<\/p>\n

But over the past 12 months, the price of cod has jumped, said Angelo Napoleone, owner of Nappies Food Service, which supplies Eifler with his fish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Napoleone attributes the price hike to low fish stocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe industry has changed a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cThe inventory is depleted, so that is driving the prices extremely high.\u201d<\/p>\n

Low inventory has led governments to limit fishing. In Iceland, the cod quota for the 2025-26 fishing year is the lowest since 2013, according to a report<\/a> from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every year, Nappies goes through around 440,000 pounds of fish for Lent.<\/p>\n

Nappies isn\u2019t the only supplier of Icelandic cod. Allegheny Elks Lodge in Deutschtown on Pittsburgh\u2019s North Side buys Icelandic cod from Robert Wholey & Co. Inc., said Alisha Crose, who runs the fish fries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt comes from Iceland, but we also source it from the Faroe Islands, which is between Norway and Iceland,\u201d owner Jim Wholey said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Fresh fish inside Robert Wholey & Co. Inc. in the Strip District on Feb. 9. Photo by Hannah Frances Johansson \/ Pittsburgh Media Partnership Newsroom.<\/p>\n

Wholey\u2019s and Nappies declined to identify their suppliers, saying the information is proprietary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Penn Avenue Fish Company owner Henry Dewey buys cod and haddock from Bergie\u2019s Seafood in New Bedford, Mass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [fishing] boats pull up right alongside of our back door, and we unload from inside the building,\u201d said Ron Pontbriand, sales manager for Bergie\u2019s Seafood Inc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cod is fished about 100 miles off the shore, he said.<\/p>\n

Penn Avenue Fish Company does not supply fish fries on the scale of Nappies or Wholey\u2019s, but sales increase by 50% around Lent, Dewey said. In addition, they sell house-made fried fish sandwiches.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMORE FISH FRIES<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Try\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tTry these 12 Pittsburgh-area fish fries in 2026<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Alright, Pittsburgh, it\u2019s your favorite time of year. With Ash Wednesday behind us, it\u2019s time to round up some of the best fish fries throughout the region.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 19, 2026February 20, 2026\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"10\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t10 fish fries you need to visit in 2025<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Want to hit a Friday fish fry but don\u2019t know where to start? Our readers voted these 11 fries the best in the Burgh during Lent.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tMarch 6, 2025March 6, 2025\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"You\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tYou voted this the Best Fish Fry in Pittsburgh<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Nominate a Lenten fish fry in any of four categories: Church, Fire Department, Restaurant and Other before Feb. 23.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tMarch 1, 2024March 1, 2024\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From parish halls to fire departments, fish at the center of one of the region\u2019s most beloved traditions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147923,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[52793,50854,73,75,74],"class_list":["post-147922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-fish-fry","tag-lent","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}