IS CHILEAN SEA BASS ACTUALLY CHILEAN?
Its original name was Patagonian toothfish or Antarctic toothfish. But marketers had more success calling it Chilean sea bass. Never mind that it’s not even a bass. It is found in the coastal waters around Chile, New Zealand, Australia, the Falkland Islands, and throughout the southern Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The species became popular in restaurants in the early 1990s because it is a fatty fish that holds its temperature well and doesn’t easily dry out—a perfect fish to serve for large banquets and high-volume businesses. The slow-growing fish lives more than a mile below sea level. To catch them, fishermen bottom trawl, dragging gear across the seafloor, which damages the habitat while snagging other marine animals. Because they live long—sometimes up to 40 years—and they breed late in life, sea bass can’t reproduce quickly enough to keep up with demand. Most Chilean sea bass in the U.S. market comes from boats that are fishing illegally and using unmodified bottom long
