Fish question

[tgull]

Nobody can answer this for me. Why is Chilean Sea Bass so fucking expensive? I was actually dumb enough to buy it for $32.99 a pound at grocery store and it tasted about as average as some farm raised tilapia for $7.99. Next time I want to ball out on seafood its going to be Alaskan King crab, you can definitely taste a difference than Snow Crab. Sea Bass was overrated and definitely way overpriced.

Someone explain to me why Chilean Sea Bass is so expensive, do we have a chef or Chopped contestant out here?

[sonatine]

its endangered

[tgull]

its endangered

Well seals are endangered and I don't see that for $32.99 a pound anywhere. There has to be something else. Because I had Sea Bass last night and I was like WTF this is not a high end meal.

[cyberbabble]

Use the correct name and people will stop buying it and the price will drop.

Wikipedia -

The name "Chilean seabass" was invented by a fish wholesaler named Lee Lantz in 1977. He was looking for a name that would make it attractive to the American market. He considered "Pacific sea bass" and "South American sea bass" before settling on "Chilean sea bass". In 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted "Chilean seabass" as an "alternative market name" for Patagonian toothfish and in 2013 for Antarctic toothfish.

"Wow, this is the best toothfish I've eaten in a long time."

[Gordman]

Endangered is technically not the best term here.

They are overfished and unsustainable. Also, the cost to catch them is more because they are in deep open waters far from shore.

Combine that with supply and demand issues and youre going to have an expensive product.

As far as demand? Well, im no expert here but i would imagine even the name alone draws consumers in to buy it who have deep pockets and want something that sounds "exotic".

In other words, Im sure the odds of shoppers picking up the product from the seafood section or ordering it in a high end restaurant would be much less if they used its other name...the toothfish.

[Walter Sobchak]

Nobody can answer this for me. Why is Chilean Sea Bass so fucking expensive? I was actually dumb enough to buy it for $32.99 a pound at grocery store and it tasted about as average as some farm raised tilapia for $7.99. Next time I want to ball out on seafood its going to be Alaskan King crab, you can definitely taste a difference than Snow Crab. Sea Bass was overrated and definitely way overpriced.

Someone explain to me why Chilean Sea Bass is so expensive, do we have a chef or Chopped contestant out here?

Because dipshits like you want to think you're ballin'.

[Krypt]

I’m partial to the Branzino (European Sea Bass)