March 1, 2018 — Now serving sea monsters.
That’s the message from members of the fishing industry, environmentalists and regulators who are trying to convince U.S. consumers to eat more of a particularly weird looking creature from the deep — monkfish.
Monkfish have been commercially fished for years, but recent analyses by the federal government show the monster-like bottom dweller can withstand more fishing pressure. However, U.S. fishermen often fall short of their quota for the fish.
A lack of reliable markets for the fish and convoluted fishing regulations make it difficult to catch the full quota, fishermen said. Nevertheless, the U.S. government is upping harvesters’ limits for monkfish for the next three years.
Some New England fishermen switched to targeting monkfish in recent decades when traditional species such as cod began to decline, said Jan Margeson, a Chatham, Massachusetts, fisherman who made such a switch himself. He said the availability of monkfish represents an opportunity for the industry.
“It is healthy. We can’t even catch the quota,” he said. “We had to find an alternative species once groundfish died years ago.”
Monkfish, also known as goosefish, are predatory fish that camouflage themselves on the ocean bottom and can grow to be about 5 feet long. With a gaping maw and uneven, jagged teeth, its appearance is the stuff of nightmares.
Read the full story at ABC News