The owner of a new seafood shop in the capital city says he’s very encouraged by what he’s seeing in the seafood market.

Danny Dumareqsue has been in the seafood business for some 25 years and Labrador Gems Seafoods on the corner of Elizabeth Avenue and Torbay Road in St. John’s is their first retail site.

100 per cent of the product comes from Newfoundland and Labrador and is prepared at their facility in Ramea.

Dumaresque says scallops are amongst the top 3 biggest sellers at this time.

He says traditional cod and salmon products are also top sellers, along with new additions scallop and cod au gratin.

Dumaresque always has new projects on the horizon and says one thing about the processing side of the industry, is that you’re only really busy for 6 or 7 months of the year, leaving lots of time for new ideas.

He says they’re looking to see where they can expand. They’re already in Dominion grocery stores across the province and may expand in that direction off the island.

They’re also exploring if they can do meat products like steaks, lamb chops and chicken products.