The heart of the operation at Motts Channel Seafood is tucked away in a room behind the retail counter, a space dubbed “the floor.” 
 
The room, which opens onto the business’s docks where ships can drop off fresh bounty, is sparsely outfitted with tables where fish and other seafood are processed each day. 
 
Lambert Long, son of owners Gene and Alison Long, does a little bit of everything at Motts, but he spends a lot of his time on the floor cutting and filleting fish. It’s the work most crucial to the business, work that only those with the most experience are entrusted to undertake. 
 
“We’ve got to hit our margins and our yields. The cut is everything,” Long said. 
 
Long, who can nimbly slice whole grouper into fillets in a matter of minutes, said the hardest part isn’t the knifework. The fish is the dangerous object, and training to do this important task starts with learning how to hold fish, particularly the fins and gill plates.
 
“Handling the fish is important because that’s where you’ll more than likely injure yourself. Even though they’re dead, they’re still trying to get you back,” Long said. 
 
This is work Long has wanted to do since he was a child. When he was as young as 7 or 8 years old, he would call his father at work and beg him to set aside fish so he could work on the floor alongside his dad and other employees. 
 
“I’d have to stand on a tote because I couldn’t reach the table,” Long said. “I just wanted to be with the older guys and help them prepare the fish.”
 
Long’s parents opened the business 32 years ago, and growing up, he said he knew he would continue what he calls the family’s “labor of love.”
 
“I didn’t really see it any other way. I love the water. I love this place,” Long said. 
 
The days at Motts start early, around 7 or 7:30 a.m. The open-air retail display needs to be stocked with ice and inventory before the doors open at 9 a.m. Retail sales make up roughly 75% of their business, but they also offer wholesale deliveries twice a day to about two dozen restaurants in New Hanover County. 
 
Grouper, which Long said is available most of the year, is consistently a top seller at the retail counter. Other popular choices include mahi-mahi, yellowfin tuna and salmon – the latter of which is not caught in local waters. Long said the family sources the best salmon they can find and ships it overnight. 
 
The store is stocked with seasoning blends and condiments, as well as local produce, beer and wine, and desserts so that the business can serve as a one-stop shop for customers trying to get dinner on the table. Long said customers appreciate the convenience. 
 
“In the summertime, it gets so crazy around here. I know a lot of people who are relieved when we have stuff like that because they know they don’t have to get off the beach and come back. It’s going to take an hour to do that in the middle of summer,” Long said. 
 
While the retail counter serves customers, a crew of workers is stationed on the floor, preparing for deliveries to local restaurants around 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Throughout the day, suppliers drop by with their catches.
 
Long said the business works with about 20 local suppliers: fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen and more who harvest the bounty of local waters. When Long’s father opened, the business worked with more suppliers who had more inventory to offer. 
 
“Regulations have influenced a lot of our change over the years. Guys aren’t allowed to fish the way they used to or catch what they used to be able to catch. So there’s just a smaller volume of seafood across the board being caught and sold,” Long said, adding that the family supports efforts to keep fisheries healthy. It just adds a layer of complexity to the long-term business plan.
 
“Just like a day’s work here, it’s uncertain as to what it’s going to look like in five, 10 years and how the fisheries will be managed,” Long said. “It’s one of those things that you kind of take it and roll with it.”
 
Hurricanes add another element of the unknown. The business is located on Motts Channel, with the building itself situated over the water. 
 
“We’re very much exposed right here,” Long said. “Hurricanes keep us up at night.”
 
Long was in college at East Carolina University, where he studied business and marketing, when Hurricane Florence struck in 2018. He came home for the rest of the semester so he could help his parents rebuild. 
 
Long said they try to look at destruction from hurricanes as an opportunity to improve the business. After Florence, the family expanded the retail space of the store with refrigerated storage and shelves for merchandise, some of which were built by Long and his father using pilings and planks from the business’s destroyed docks. 
 
He said these unexpected challenges haven’t deterred him from his interest in continuing with the family business. Though each day, and the industry in general, is unpredictable, Long said he likes the challenge. 
 
“It’s always changing, always evolving,” he said. “Every day is a little bit different.”