Downtown La Libertad, Ecuador, has the most extensive fish market open to the 
regular fish-buying public that we've seen since Ensenada, Mexico. Whatever's running offshore, will quickly find its way into the fishing fleet's nets and thence to the Mercado de Mariscos. Any local taxicab can take you there, no problemo.
Have you ever been to the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle? The atmosphere at the Mercado de Mariscos is similar: well-controlled chaos but without the fish-tossing. Which Ecuadoreans find
unseemly. Anyway, all the people (mostly men) selling their fish at the Mercado de Mariscos are shouting out what they're selling, and their prices, to everyone who walks in. I have enough trouble understanding one voice speaking Spanish to me; 5 voices hollering all at once about names of fish I don't recognize, is more than I can manage. On the other hand, a place like this is GB's Disneyland.
This Mercado de Mariscos is very organized, with sellers' counters divided into areas
for shellfish, fin fish, crustaceans, and smoked/salted fish. Prices are posted inside the front entrance but in all my visits there I've never figured them out. It's those darn fish names, all in Spanish. Ecuadorean Spanish, at that. Which has its nuances. Hey, look, here's someone selling swordfish fillets. You can tell, because the swordfish's head is sticking up RIGHT THERE:
During the several months we've been shopping here, we've seen marlin, dorado, yellowtail jacks, bonito, sole, bittersweet clams, crabs, and 4 sizes of prawns and shrimp sold here. And much, much more. FYI, in late September the giant prawns come in. They run about 4 to the pound - practically the size of mini-lobsters - and are scrumptious. Fresh fin fish like dorado is expertly filleted in front of you.
Here's a shot of one of our favorite fishmongers, The Marlin Guy, filleting a couple
pounds for us and the crew of s/v Impala. Check out the size of the sections of marlin he has to carve. (Hint: that's not a table infront of his left hand.)
And what to we do with such fine fish? Why, The Propane Chef makes sushi-and- sashimi combo platters, decorated with strips of nori. He has much verticality.
Behold:
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