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Seafood is big business at the holidays

By LEXIE O'CONNOR

WHITESBORO, N.Y. (WKTV) - The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a Christmas Eve tradition for many that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes, making fish markets very busy this time of year.

"The phone's ringing off the hook for Saturday. It gets pretty busy," says Tiffany Walter of the Whitesboro Fish Market.

The Whitesboro Fish Market says they expect close to 200 customers ordering fish for the Seven Fishes Tradition or to just add fish to their feast.

They say haddock has been their most popular fish for Christmas Eve, but they also have king crab legs, lobster tails, cod and pollock that they don't normally carry.

Although many people celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes, there are many theories as to what it means. A popular belief is that the seven fishes represent the seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, while another belief is that the seven fishes represent the seven days of God's completion in Bible.

"I don't know what the fishes are, but I know it's a very important tradition for a lot of the Italians," says customer Christa Rucco.

But despite all the theories, fish is served as a Christmas tradition in many families, whether they be Italian or not.

"Most people don't eat fish every day, so it is a really nice treat," says Rucco, who has already placed a haddock and shrimp order for Saturday. "In the holidays, you tend to do a little extra in your meals and fish is a special meal to have."
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