It's 3 a.m. and I'm standing in the bustling parking lot of the New Fulton Fish Market at Hunt's Point in the Bronx, New York.

I'm waiting for Steve Sclafani, the owner and principal fish buyer for Peter's Fish Market, a fresh fish shop that has been in Midland Park for 49 years.

Sclafani has agreed to let me accompany him on this late-night or early-morning shopping trip to the nation's biggest fish market. As I wait in the dark, I'm having some thoughts (some of them second).

My first thought was that I have finally made it to this amazing place, though maybe 18 years too late. The original Fulton Fish Market was at the tip of Manhattan down by the Brooklyn Bridge. It relocated in 2005 to Hunt's Point in the South Bronx.

Call it a culinary bucket list item, along the lines of getting a reservation at (and being able to afford) Napa Valley's French Laundry, drinking a Sazerac in New Orleans or munching on fresh brioche in Paris. It is something I planned on doing but never got around to since I attended culinary school in 1992.

Another thought was about the odors wafting from the massive warehouse that houses 25 fish wholesalers. It's rather pleasant, akin to that of the Jersey shore, which seems apropos.

And finally, I thought — this guy sure works hard. There aren't too many people willing to get up in the middle of the night to buy fish — and then spend their day selling it.

"It is not many people's dream to buy and sell fish," Sclafani said.

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On Monday and Friday mornings Sclafani gets up in the wee hours and drives the 45 minutes to Hunt's Point to select fish for his 330 regular customers, plus what he needs for his own store that his father Steven and his uncle, Peter, founded in 1974. On the other days, one of his staff members makes the trip. The Hunt's Point market opens at 2 a.m. and closes by 7 a.m.

Each night he comes armed with a list and ends up buying as much as 10,000 pounds of fish. His 26 employees then clean it and prepare it. The salmon is carved into filets or steaks, depending on what individual customers require. Throughout the day, employees deliver the fish to customers.

What he needs to buy changes by the day. It depends on what restaurants, such as Saddle River Inn, or country clubs including those in Hackensack and Ridgewood want as well as what he thinks will sell in his shop.

His customers depend on Sclafani's ability to find the jewels among the thousands of tons of fish that pass through the market five days a week, and to do so at a reasonable price, not easy as inflation pushes prices higher.

Recently he had to say no to "the most beautiful soft shell crabs," he said. "They wanted $80 a dozen."

It's way early in the season, he said. Typically softshell crabs cost $30 a dozen once the season kicks in around Mother's Day.

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On this one Friday, he needs to buy, among other fish, 250 pounds of the finest yellowfin tuna. The tuna needs to be pristine; much of it will be going to sushi restaurants where it will be eaten raw.

Just about every wholesaler in the market sells loins of tuna. Scalfani inspects each piece set up on piles of ice for color and will only buy a few loins here and there until gets the 250 pounds he needs. It's not an easy job as there are hundreds on display on the ice-laden stainless steel tables all up and down the 400,000-square-foot warehouse.

"I look for brightly colored tuna," he said. He wants bright red tuna, not magenta, which is a sign it may have been treated to make it appear fresher.

I watch in awe as Sclafani examines black cod, sablefish, yellowfin, salmon, black seabass and swordfish. He pokes and prods and opens ice-filled cardboard boxes of swordfish or pails full of sea bass checking for freshness.

"See that?" Sclafani excitedly said, pulling out a whole black sea bass, not much bigger than his hand. He buys the entire 60-pound carton. It's really fresh, he said. "Look. It is in rigor mortis."

That means the fish took its last breath very recently — it may indeed have been caught a mere three hours ago.

"They don't get much fresher than that," he said. He's done and we head back to Midland Park.

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By dinner time a North Jersey chef will most likely be plating that fresh fish. Among his customers are Wyckoff's Brick House, Ramsey's Café Panache, and H2O Ocean Center in Cedar Knolls.

Fewer and farther between

Peter's Fish Market is one of the few fresh fish markets left in North Jersey. Several others include Seafood Gourmet in Maywood, The Fish Dock in Closter, Anchor Seafood in Montvale and Gus & Co., in Montclair.

It can be tough to make it though. Fresh fish has a relatively short shelf life. Rents for stores can be high in North Jersey, and it can take time to build the business. Peter's started out with a few country clubs and took years to build its client base.

Even so, he said without the restaurant and county club businesses, it would be hard to just sell retail. It makes up about 15%of his revenue.

"It is hard work, mentally taxing," he said. "The start-up costs are steep. I was fortunate to be able to take Peter's Fish Market and run with it."

Still, most fish is now bought from supermarkets, where they often arrive frozen. But those consumers who care and can afford to pay a premium for good quality fish make their way to Peter's and the few remaining fish shops around.

Old school

Sclafani learned the ins, outs and the joys of buying and selling fresh fish from his father and uncle. His father, also named Steven, used to bring him along to the old fish market.

He recalls one of his first fish purchases — it didn't go well. He bought a box of squid. It wasn't until he got back to the shop that he learned it was spoiled. It was pink, a no-no. Fresh squid should be white and with a hint of gray and a clear eye. Squids have two eyes but some have one much larger than the other. He had to throw the box out and learned early on the perils of purchasing bad fish.

In general, the rules for buying fish haven't changed much since I attended culinary school.

Clear eyes mean the fish is fresh, cloudy not so much. A fish's scales matter too; tight scales are a sign of freshness; flaky scales, on the other hand, suggest the fish is drying out.

When it comes to salmon, by far the most popular fish, the smell is important. It should smell, he said, like cucumbers. Most other fish should not smell at all, and certainly not "fishy."

With flatfish, such as flounder or Dover sole, he checks to see if the fish's bottom is all white with perhaps a bit of grey, but no major discolorations.

When he is satisfied with the quality, he watches as it's loaded onto skids and forklifted into his truck.

Here's a gem I learned from Sclarfani. When buying swordfish, it is best to do so when the moon is full.

"The moon illuminates the water and the fish come up to feed," he said.

The fishermen's yield is higher at these times and it can bring down the cost.

Spring is also when swordfish begin to run, as do mahi-mahi, striped bass and monkfish.

"Oh yeah there's lots of monk now," he said about the bottom feeder some call the poor man's lobster.

Is the old better than the new?

Sclafani, who joined the family business after he graduated from Middlebury College admitted he is not a fan of the new fish market. The old had more character, he said with its brick building, cobblestone streets, picturesque views of the Brooklyn Bridge and lots more noise and energy.

"It was definitely a wild scene," he said. "Hunt's Point is more sterile. It doesn't have character or charisma. It is basically a refrigerated warehouse." It is good for business, though, he said.

For a food lover who has yearned to visit the market and dreamed of walking its aisles, the newish fish market is pretty darn terrific. I'll wake up at 1 a.m. any morning to do this again, but next time I'll remember to bring a cooler.

Go: Anyone can visit the fish market. It costs $7 to park. Address:  800 Food Center Dr., Bronx. 718-378-3256, newfultonfishmarket.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: We went to the new Fulton Fish Market. Here's what we found