Tired of barramundi and cod? A new white fish species is on the way

March 16, 2025 3:57 PM

Tired of barramundi and cod? A new white fish species is on the way. The CSIRO [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, a scientific research organisation funded by the Australian Federal Government] unveils new fish variety that could one day make a splash on dinner tables across Australia. They are working on developing a sustainable, profitable and eco-friendly farmed fish using an Australian native white fish few have heard of.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (20 comments total)

(It's people!)
posted by Fupped Duck at 4:46 PM on March 16 [12 favorites]

Closely related to the Florida pompano, which is also a very popular wild-caught and aquaculture fish. And which is similarly NOT PEOPLE.
posted by 1adam12 at 5:22 PM on March 16 [3 favorites]

It's good to see we're doing something about reducing our dependence on imported seafood. Although I'd prefer we did more to reduce our need to import all food, this is a good start and even better if it gives us an affordable supply of tasty fish, which most imported varieties ar definitely not!
posted by dg at 5:54 PM on March 16

Lets hope that part of this research is directed to developing an aquaculture process that's less of an environmental clusterfuck than the Tasmania salmon industry.
posted by tim_in_oz at 6:05 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]

I couldn’t tell, but they’re talking about tanks rather than pens — AFAIK salmon are all in pens (in the ocean, so diseases spread).

Tanks, in theory, allow great nutrient cycling through a couple kinds of agriculture.
posted by clew at 6:23 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]

Tired of cod? Man, I'm half Portuguese. If I ever got tired of cod, my grandparents would come back from the grave and ... [shudder] ... you don't wanna see my grandpa when he's pissed. Trust me.
posted by Relay at 7:25 PM on March 16 [9 favorites]

Pompano is such a good (read: delicious) choice.
posted by yellowcandy at 7:44 PM on March 16

I couldn’t tell, but they’re talking about tanks rather than pens

I wasn't sure if that was just part of the development process and/or if that's scalable to production. Would be great if it doesn't involve polluting estuaries!
posted by tim_in_oz at 7:45 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]

Pompano is such a good (read: delicious) choice.

Champagne and pompano... they really go together.
posted by demonic winged headgear at 7:53 PM on March 16

"Barramundi and Cod" sounds like a law firm. Probably a fishy one.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:27 PM on March 16 [3 favorites]

I love cod. When I was in the Florida Keys a few years ago, I had Cobia for the first time. Liked it quite a bit.
posted by bz at 8:29 PM on March 16

...you don't wanna see my grandpa when he's pissed. Trust me.

I've had to tell old Portuguese men that our liquor store was out of Mateus, Macieira, and/or Martini sweet vermouth. I've seen some shit, man.

I will never be tired of cod, but I think we're kind of running out.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:19 PM on March 16

I’m a bit annoyed by the fact that they framed this to intentionally not reveal what the fish is in the opening sentences (whatever happened to pyramid structure), but more annoyed by my own inability to call their bluff and not click. I got pompanoed
posted by No-sword at 9:28 PM on March 16

I had barramundi two days ago (in Australia), it was delicious.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:22 PM on March 16

Good luck with the marketing? During and long after WWII, the British government tried making tinned South African snoek Thyrsites atun available as an off-ration protein source. Despite much recipeprop "Snoek piquant" etc. snoek was widely rejected and millions of tins of the stuff were re-labelled and sold as cat food.
posted by BobTheScientist at 12:06 AM on March 17

I can't find the screenshot I wanted to link here, but Gen X Aussies will guess which scene I had in mind.
posted by rory at 12:56 AM on March 17

WAKE UP BABE

NEW FISH JUST DROPPED
posted by otherchaz at 7:18 AM on March 17 [1 favorite]

Cod can be really wormy. Gross.
posted by KazamaSmokers at 11:23 AM on March 17

Good luck with the marketing?
I wouldn't be surprised to see this marketed under another name, when it eventually hits the fish 'n' chip shops. Pompano isn't a terrible name but it doesn't exactly sound delicious, so I imagine it will get a similar treatment to Flake, definitely the most common fish sold in takeaway form. Those outside Australia probably won't know what Flake is - it's the term used for flesh from a variety of sharks, mostly the Gummy Shark. Some people know what it really is and don't care, but plenty of people who do care are in denial about what Flake really is. People are strange and easily manipulated.
posted by dg at 2:49 PM on March 17

I've had to tell old Portuguese men that our liquor store was out of Mateus, Macieira, and/or Martini sweet vermouth. I've seen some shit, man.

Is it Thursday already TheWhiteSkull?
posted by Relay at 7:39 PM on March 17