No Chilean Sea Bass Please


I recently saw an article about Pepperidge Farm changing the name of their snack crackers from Goldfish to Chilean Sea Bass. I am no marketing guru, but indeed, what a lousy choice.

 

They changed the cracker’s name, temporarily (Oct 2024), to appeal to adults, seemingly by using a name concocted to dupe people into eating the Patagonian Toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides. Also known as, Chilean Sea Bass. 

 

This deep-living species is found at depths between 45 and 3,850 meters (150 and 12,600 feet), typically in cold waters between 1°C and 4°C. These are long-lived fish, reaching maturity from between 11 and 17 years, reaching an old age of more than 50 years.

 

The currently fishery for the Patagonian Toothfish hauls in 50,000 metric tons of fish a year.Patagonian toothfish typically range from 7 to 15 kilograms (kg) each, depending on their age and region. So this is, back of the envelope calculation assigning 10 kg per fish, about 5 million fish. That’s a lot of fish.

 

Female Patagonian Toothfish produce between 48,000 and 500,000 eggs per spawning season (once a year), larger fish producing more. The eggs hatch into larvae which enter the plankton, and are fodder. Thus, only a very small proportion of these will survive to adulthood and contribute to the population. 

 

Can such a late maturing, and long-lived fish, be sustainably fished? 

 

No. 

 

Consider we, humans that is not you and me personally, decimated the Atlantic Cod population. Cod in the western Atlantic mature at 2 to 4 years with females producing ½ a million to 9 million eggs a year.  

 

The Patagonian Toothfish has been primarily targeted because other commercially harvested species have been decimated. It is now subject to illegal and unreported harvesting. Human’s overall goal seems to be to clean up the ocean of all its fish. If that is not the actual human goal, it’s surprising since that is what we do with aplomb. Now, even the deep-living toothfish are targets for destruction. 

 

Figure 1. Patagonian Toothfish


The fatty content of the toothfish can cause digestive issues in some people. This is an known issue with other deep-sea fish. The extremes of digestive issues seem to be from the Oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus and the Escolar, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum. These fish contain indigestible wax esters (gempylotoxin), which can cause oily diarrhea. The Patagonian toothfish fat does not contain wax esters, but its richness might still cause issues if consumed excessively or by individuals with sensitive digestive systems. 

 

Note for consumers, the above fish, like the toothfish, might be marketed under different names. Oilfish and Escolar might be marketed under names such as Butterfish, White Tuna or Hawaiian Cod. Butterfish sounds better than Oily–fish–that–gives–you–diarrhea. The names White Tuna and Hawaiian Cod are complete lies. They are not tuna or cod.

 

Pepperidge Farm, get off the bad fish marketing bandwagon and just go for a fun name. Let me offer you a better name. Actually, any name is better than Chilean Sea Bass. Here are 25 name that are much more fun. 

 

1.    Snackfish  

2.    Golden Swimmers  

3.    Fishy Nibbles  

4.    Cheddar Catchers  

5.    Little Fins

6.    Crispy Minnows  

7.    Cheddar Bites  

8.    Golden Crumbles  

9.    Tiny Tails  

10.Ocean Munchies

11.Fin-tastic Snacks  

12.Pond Pals  

13.Fishie Delights  

14.Nibble Fish  

15.Goldie Crunchies

16.Gigglefish  

17.Cheesy Swimmers  

18.Snack Shoal  

19.Happy Fins  

20.Swimmy Snacks  

21.Munchfish  

22.Puddle Crunchies  

23.Tiny Splashers  

24.Chompy Fishies  

25.Cheddar Wiggles

 

 

 

 

 

 



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