Continuing our tradition of introducing revolutionary ideas to the long range sport fishing community, Royal Star once again ushers in a new era returning to San Diego with your catch in beautiful, fresh caught condition; not frozen in brine solution. Upon arrival in San Diego, a new, high tech, fish processing company will meet our anglers offering SAME DAY filleting and packaging for all fresh product.

How will we accomplish the feat of keeping your catch in beautiful, fresh caught condition? Truthfully it is quite simple with our multiple holds and state of the art refrigeration system. One or more of our holds will be dedicated as ãliquid refrigeratorsä filled with seawater, circulated, and refrigerated to an optimum temperature of thirty degrees Fahrenheit. This system will keep your catch in premium condition for a minimum of five days. On voyages of more than six days, the fresh option will be offered on the final five days of fishing. By bleeding, and in the case of large fish, bleeding and gutting prior to placing in the refrigerated seawater or ãRSWä tank, premium product quality is assured. This same system is used daily by countless commercial vessels that deliver high quality fresh products to markets worldwide.

Our 2003 Panama voyages and extensive customer feedback inspired this revolutionary idea that places all the emphasis on returning to port with the highest quality product possible. Taking customer feedback to heart, we developed and perfected our system in Panama where we produced without a doubt the finest quality product ever to leave a San Diego Long Range Vessel. The condition of the fillets can only be described as amazing; the finest grade ãsashimiä quality ready for the table directly off the boat. With all the past years of fine bluefin tuna fishing and the future suggesting more ahead, imagine returning to San Diego with your coveted one hundred pound bluefin in premium condition prime for the serving of choice.

Of course in adhering to Mexican fishing regulations filleting is not available on board but this by no means dictates that quality will suffer. In actuality product quality benefits in that the delicate tuna meat has time to properly chill and relax before being professionally butchered. Five Star Fish Processing will now meet Royal Star with slush bins for fresh product and also the capacity to handle frozen product. The fresh product will be carefully removed from our ãRSWä tanks then transferred to insulated bins holding a slush solution of water and ice. This will prevent any rise in core temperature as well as protect the delicate meat from bruising. Orders will be taken on board insuring that your fish will NEVER hit the sidewalk retaining their premium quality. Co-owner and founder of Five Star Fish Processing Andy Saraspe boasts twenty- five years in the fishing business all of which was time spent on the water pursuing and delivering fresh products to local and foreign markets. A good friend to both Randy and I, an individual would be hard pressed to find a more knowledgeable man with experience in fish handling. Five Starâs conveniently located, new processing facility features a state of the art, sanitary environment as well as comfortable accommodations for anglers electing to use the highly recommended same day service. Your fresh catch will be professionally filleted, vacuum packed, packaged and chilled while you wait. Expected processing time is two to five hours. At seventy five cents per pound Randy and I believe that this is a fantastic value for the service rendered.

We at Royal Star Sportfishing present this new service to our anglers with tremendous pride. For many years we have watched beautiful fish committed to our brine holds desiring nothing more than the ability to offer better options to those anglers desiring a higher quality product. Anglers keep in mind that if you desire to trade your catch for cans that the brine solution is the finest, and only option as canning specifications dictate that a core temperature of 18 degrees Fahrenheit must be maintained and present when the fish are delivered. With the arrival of Five Star Fish Processing and our commitment to improvement, Royal Star anglers now enjoy the benefit of either the canning or a fresh product option. I venture to say that once the fresh option is established there will be many anglers taking advantage of this incredible service. Transferring the emphasis from quantity to quality we believe this fantastic service is in line with both customer demand and fisheries trends. We believe this revolutionary idea will transform long range fishing voyages by greatly improving product quality as well as our anglerâs appreciation for the value of their catch. Randy and I look forward to the opportunity to offer long range anglers high quality, fresh product at the end of their voyages in addition to continuing innovative ideas in the future.

Tim Ekstrom
Randy Toussaint
Owners/Captains M/V Royal Star