A Family Owned And Operated Business
Started by Dick and Doug Douty in 1980, Douty Brothers Seafood has remained as a true family business for over 30 years. Dick and his wife Dore operate the wholesale business in Portland, while Doug and his wife Debi run things in New Jersey at The Lusty Lobster, our sister seafood market in Highlands. Years of experience in the seafood industry have allowed us to develop strong relationships with good, reliable suppliers, making sure that our customers get a consistently quality product at a fair price.
In the early days, Dick would drive the truck from Maine to New Jersey several times a week, making deliveries to area restaurants. Once Doug returned from college, the "Douty Brothers" joined forces. Doug remained in New Jersey, opening the retail store in Highlands and managing the New Jersey customers, while Dick continued to run the wholesale operation in Maine. Today, Lusty Lobster (our retail store in New Jersey) has become the premier seafood market in the area, supplying locals and restaurants with product, and is often hired for raw bar catering, clam bakes, and festivals.
Douty Brothers wholesale business in Maine bought their lobster buying station, McLoons Wharf, in 2003, allowing the company to have a direct supply chain. We mainly sell to other wholesalers, but also supply some restaurants and retail stores. Our best and most loyal customers include The Lobster Place in NYC, Braun Seafood in Long Island, and Clydes Restaurant Group in the Washington D.C. area.
Seafood
We have wonderful relationships with a number of reputable fish suppliers, as well as access to the Portland Fish Exchange, which is the East Coast's first display fish auction. Our business is convienently located on the Portland Fish Pier, right across from the Fish Exchange. Douty Brothers had an original buyers seat on the exchange, and our president was an early board member of the PFE. The auction is conducted at mid day, immediately after the local fishing vessels have landed and unloaded their product. We purchase seafood for individual customers daily from the fish exchange, and ship whole fish next day to Boston or New York. This way our customers are guaranteed a high quality, extremely fresh product at a very reasonable price.
Lobsters
The majority of our Maine lobsters come from the midcoast, right off of Spruce Head Island. There we own a lobster buying station, McLoons Wharf, where we supply local lobstermen with bait and fuel. They in turn sell us their lobsters for the season, making sure we have direct access to lobsters all summer . At the wharf, the lobsters are held in floating crates in the bay right off our wharf, where we have a 15,000 lb holding capacity. When the busy season hits, these lobsters are trucked down to our location in Portland daily. During the winter months, when most Maine lobstermen have stopping fishing, we purchase lobsters from local Maine suppliers and some small, family owned suppliers in Canada.
Lobster Meat
We sell fresh tail knuckle claw lobster with can be packaged to order in 8 oz, 12 oz, 2 lb, or 5 lb containers. These can be purchased fresh or frozen. We cook lobsters daily in small batches, using a high grade commercial steamer. The lobsters are then hand picked and cleaned, with the claw and tail meat remaining whole. We also supply frozen lobster bodies, ideal for making lobster stock.
Shipping
Our trucks deliver to New York City's Fulton Fish Market and our sister company in Highlands, New Jersey on Monday and Thursday nights. We also have daily trucking to Boston where we can meet with preferred freighters and ship to any city. We supply a number of companies along the eastern seaboard, with customers in cities including Washington D.C, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Florida. We can easily arrange for air freight as well as international shipping.
Our Facilities
From 1980-1989 the Douty Bros lobster pound and office were located on the South Portland waterfront, on a pier overlooking Portland and Casco Bay. During much of that time, Dick and Dore also opened and ran a successful lobster shack right next to Douty Brothers called The Lobster Cafe.
In 1989 Douty Brothers moved to a much larger and well located building on the Portland Fish Pier, where we have operated for over 20 years. Our current location is HACCP certified and equipped with freezers, large walk in coolers, tank rooms, a lobster cooking and processing area, fish cutting facilities, a fish processing area, and offices. In 2005, we installed an aerated holding tank and efficient trickle down tote system, adding 15,000 pounds to our lobster holding capacity. We are now capable of holding 30,000 lbs of lobsters.
Products
A sampling of items we typically have available. We also have access to many specialty seafood products, so if you don't see what you're looking for, ask!
Contact Us
Dick Douty
George Bragdon
The Boss
Don't call him, he'll call you.