Saving Seafood

US judge upholds ban on Chilean sea bass imports

April 3, 2025 –A U.S. federal judge has upheld the government’s decision to block imports of Chilean sea bass, despite a legal challenge from a small importer.

Chilean sea bass, also known as Patagonian toothfish, is a highly valued fish harvested in the South Atlantic Ocean near Antarctica. Since 1980, the fishery has been governed by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), a regional fishery management organization that includes the United States, Russia, the U.K., and others.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

For 50 Years, Deep-Water Trawls Likely Caught More Fish Than Anyone Thought

April 23, 2018 — Long before it lands on a restaurant menu, Chilean sea bass takes quite a journey to arrive on land. To catch these deep-sea dwellers, fishers usually drag nets along the ocean floor a quarter of a mile, or more, beneath the ocean’s surface — a form of fishing called bottom trawling.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization tries to keep tabs on bottom trawling, which rakes in juvenile fish and lots of other ocean species that are not the desired catch, depleting future fish stocks. It asks member countries to adhere to quotas and report fishing statistics.

But recent research, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, suggests that millions of tons of fish caught in deep-water trawl nets have gone unreported in the last 50 years.

Read the full story at National Public Radio