Russell Pinkham knows seafood. He's been selling it since the early '80s when his parents opened a wholesale clam business on River Road in Boothbay.

“They were a wholesale clam shucking business,” Pinkham said. “My mother picked crabmeat, too, and did a little retail.”

Pinkham's wife, Cathy, said his mother had the best crabmeat around.

Pinkham’s mother died in 2008, after which his father lost interest in the business and retired, Pinkham said.

“I took over the wholesale end of it, and then decided to dabble in retail,” he said.

Pinkham had been working as a commercial fisherman for 25 years, some of that time in Alaska.

The first summer Pinkham ran the business he just had a lobster tank and clams.

Business was good on River Road during the summer months, but not so much over the winters.

“I like being busy,” Pinkham said. “All summer long it was busy, and then after Columbus Day weekend, it slowed down.”

He decided he might have to close for four or five months.

“There's not enough turnover,” he said. “You end up throwing away more than you sell.”

Lisa's Lunchbox closed late this summer, and until a week ago, the Route 27 business remained vacant.

“After Lisa's closed, I kept looking at it and looking at it, and finally I decided to call about it, and I'm really glad I did,” Pinkham said.

He made the decision to rent the space two weeks ago. The couple opened at their new location on Saturday, Dec. 20.

“We did some scurrying to get some painting done,” Cathy Pinkham said.

Pinkham said they still have a ways to go.

“We have a new 10-foot display case coming, and a big glass-front freezer.”

He said he will be open to suggestions from customers.

“It's a full fish market. If I don't have it, I tell people to ask me to get it.”

The business will continue to supply wholesalers with clams. Pinkham said clammers are delivering the bivalves every day.

Unfortunately for Pinkham and his customers, there will be no Maine shrimp again this year.

“Right now I'm selling North Atlantic shrimp,” Pinkham said. “It's from Canada. It's good, but it's smaller than Maine shrimp.”

Pinkham feels optimistic about the change of location.

“We're really excited and happy. You wouldn't believe how many people have said 'We're so glad you're here — what a perfect location.'”

On Tuesday, Dec. 23, Cathy Pinkham was serving fresh, hot haddock chowder to everyone stopping by, for free.

Her son, Nick Kilgus, who is a senior at Boothbay Region High School, was there helping his stepfather fill orders, and attempting to keep their new 11-week-old puppy, Mandy Mae, in line. Kilgus has worked at Pinkham’s for the past two summers.

In one 20-minute period that day, 10 people came in for different purchases, including fresh picked crabmeat, fresh fillets of sole, diver's dry sea scallops, haddock and lobster.

One customer came to pick up his order of over $200 worth of seafood for a big Christmas Eve chowder.

Barbara Wallace of Boothbay came in for some sole. It was her first time at Pinkham’s. She said she had never gone to the old location.

“I'm excited about it being here,” Wallace said. “I'll be stopping in all the time.”

Check Pinkham Seafood's Facebook page to see what's fresh out of the ocean each day. They will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Sundays, for now. The new location is 798 Wiscasset Road. The phone number will be the same as at the old location, 207-633-6236, as soon as service is hooked up. Meanwhile the market can be reached at 207-380-3929.