Did you know?
Fishmongers, the fish market employees that handle fish for the customers, started the tossing tradition when they got tired of having to walk out to the Market's fish table to retrieve a salmon each time someone ordered one. Eventually, they realized it was easier to station an employee at the table and to throw the fish over the counter.
Fish delights taste buds, entertains
One of the Market's major attractions is Pike Place Fish Market, where employees throw three-foot salmon and other fish to each other rather than passing them by hand. When a customer orders a fish, an employee at the Fish Market's ice-covered fish table picks up the fish and hurls it over the countertop, where another employee catches it and preps it for sale.
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The fishmongers, as the fish-tossing employees are known, are not only on the job helping customers get their fish, but also are a permanent entertainment fixture on the market, being one of the must-take picture opportunities of any visit to the market.
Part of their routine is to ask the gathering masses of camera-clicking tourists from huddling too close to the shop so as not to hinder the shopping experience for people interested in fresh fish.
Just a few blocks from the docks, the fish markets at Pike Place are guaranteed to have the freshest in stock, thus assuring not only customer satisfaction in their retail operation, but also supplying the many restaurants within the market and most of Seattle with a constant supply of top-notch fish.
Click here to see fishmongers toss a fish to a customer.