Before most of New York City wakes up, its seafood supply chain is already in full swing. At the New Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point, business starts at 2 a.m. and wraps up by 7 a.m. In that five-hour window, vendors move nearly half of the city’s seafood, salmon from Scotland, shrimp from Thailand and branzini from Turkey, all across the tri-state area.

The pace is breakneck. Forklifts screech past stacks of ice-packed pallets. Buyers haggle in bursts of Spanish, Greek and Mandarin. And by 7 a.m., it’s all over: the seafood is gone, the floors are hosed down, and a full day’s business has come and gone before you’ve even had your morning coffee.

The seafood industry, more than many others, is global by necessity. Geography, climate and sustainability regulations make it impossible to

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