They weren’t meant to be brought to the surface, after all! 2. So, even though they’re still considered one of the top ten ugliest fish, it’s important to be gentle on the blobfish’s appearance. However, under the water, blobfish appear like any other fish. Because of this, their bodies aren’t designed to withstand being above water, which gives them a rather unappealing appearance. However, much of this reputation is derived from their appearance above water.īlobfish are deep sea fish who are used to living close to the bottom of the ocean. BlobfishĪ lot of people consider the blobfish to be the ugliest fish in the world. Here’s our big list of some of the ugliest fish species in the world. This piece shines a light with love on these ugly fish that are often forgotten and can be less researched and protected. In fact, there are some downright ugly and rather unsightly fish on the planet. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some fish you’d rather not see on a day-to-day basis. In fact, between fresh and saltwater sources, there are over 30,000 different species of fish! This means that there are endless possibilities for colors, shapes, and sizes, which also means that, sometimes, certain fish species may be less appealing to the eye than others.Įvery fish is unique and special in its own way, and that’s enough for it to be appreciated. “It needs to go on ice right away, and then it’s only good for a day, maybe two days.” He readies it for the grill with a short cure of salt, sugar, and chile powder.There is plenty of fish in the sea. To Prewitt, it’s a treat-when handled properly, “The clock starts ticking as soon as it comes out of the water,” he says. Ryan Prewitt, Pêche Seafood Grill, New Orleans, LouisianaĪccording to some fishermen, the oily Spanish mackerel is better for crab bait than for dinner. Hastings snaps them up whenever he has the chance. Although they frequent Southern waters, the striking swimmers aren’t typical fare outside parts of Asia. Maybe you’ve seen a few squirrelfish nosing the walls of a well-stocked aquarium, but chances are you’ve never eaten one. “I started bowfishing for stingrays not long ago, but a lot of the guys with licenses to sell them actually put them up in shrimp nets,” he says.Ĭhris Hastings, Hot and Hot Fish Club, Birmingham, Alabama Among them: pan-fried stingray wing fillets, which have a similar taste and texture to sea scallops. We’re not supposed to serve local fish raw at the restaurant, but if we did, this is the fish I would use.”Ĭaswell estimates that he has served dishes made from more than eighty different marine species since Reef opened seven years ago. “It definitely has some tuna-like qualities,” says Stanhope of the banded rudderfish, a diminutive member of the amberjack family that is increasingly well represented on Charleston menus. Jason Stanhope, FIG, Charleston, South Carolina (Consider the redfish, a formerly under-the-radar species that nearly went belly-up after Paul Prudhomme took Cajun cuisine to the masses.) But while trash-fish proponents might still have a few things to figure out, the variety of fish on menus today, including these favorites from ten of the South’s top seafood-loving chefs, presents good evidence that even an ugly fish can make a beautiful meal. Some fishmongers have expressed concerns about guiding armies of diners toward largely unregulated fish that might not be able to handle the pressure. “As a chef, you should already be using some local vegetables,” says chef Steve Phelps, of Indigenous in Sarasota, Florida. Just as farmers are exploring new crops and stockmen new breeds, fishmongers and chefs are wading deeper into the sea. But don’t let the terminology fool you: Trash fish aren’t garbage. Chefs Collaborative, a group of forward-thinking culinarians, has recently sponsored a series of Trash Fish Dinners that have paired chefs across the country with underutilized species. And as regulations have continued to tighten on favored fish such as snapper and grouper, a pivot toward these less desirable “trash fish” might be the best way to ensure tasty plates of seafood for years to come. In the years since, the culinary world has continued to embrace a more holistic view of seafood, looking beyond just bycatch to a plethora of invasive and generally tossed-aside species. Not so long ago, sometime close to the dawn of the modern farm-to-table movement, a group of chefs centered around the Gulf of Mexico began to spread the gospel of bycatch-the miscellaneous fish, cartilaginous rays, gnarled whelks, and other unwanted extras that fishermen scoop up while in pursuit of swordfish and shrimp.
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