On any given day, the Sopko family-owned Sea Farms and Shells Unlimited facilities on Ditch Bank Road in Guinea are bustling with activity. Trucks are constantly in and out of the parking lot as watermen bring their catches to sell. Crabs, oysters, rockfish, salmon, tuna, halibut—just about anything that’s caught is fair game for market. These days, a growing portion of the catch that’s brought in consists of blue catfish, the apex predator that has invaded the Chesapeake Bay, feeding voraciously on fish, blue crabs and clams. Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay Program has developed a management strategy for the species that includes encouraging its development as a food fish, and in 2024, Sea Farms was awarded a $250,000 state grant to fund the equipment to process and flash freeze its product. Now, the company’s blue catfish program is a “growing operation,” said Sea Farms Vice President of Operations Chris Sopko. The grant funds allowed the purchase of a blast freezer and a storage freezer, ...