Pacific cod live along the Pacific shores, from southern California, all the way up to the Bering Strait. While your average cod is a pale hue with a dappled design of brownish spots along the top, a black cod is a greenish-black from tip to tail. The biggest anatomical difference between the two fish is, of course, the color. Black cod, on the other hand, grow only to about 36 inches, but are a bit heftier, weighing in at up to 55 pounds. Pacific cod can grow to approximately 50 inches long and 50 pounds. With high Omega-3 content, and a rich, fatty flavor, there are a multitude of reasons why you’d want to add black cod to your dinner menu. Dark in hue and about the same size as a salmon, black cod thrive in the frigid Alaskan waters, where they live in abundance and are harvested sustainably. Still, despite this century-old acknowledgment that calling the sablefish “black cod” is a bit of a misnomer, the name has stuck.Ī favorite among foodies and chefs, black cod is a higher-end fish that’s particularly popular in Japan ( Gindara ) and growing in popularity in the United States.

According to a 1916 article in the Pacific Fisherman, “The general feeling that the present name is a misnomer and a decided handicap in its marketing… Consumers who want a cod are always disappointed upon purchasing it, while the many consumers who want a rich fish, such as is the black cod, refuse to take it because of the fear that it would be what its common name implies - a dry-meated fish.” The fish’s name has been a sore subject for fishermen for more than a century. Unfortunately (for both you and the fish), it’s hardly ever called sablefish and is more popularly called black cod. It’s an entirely separate fish with an unfortunate and confusing nickname.īlack cod is, in actuality, sablefish. Despite the similar names, the black cod fish isn’t cod at all. The look, the taste, the sourcing - it’s all different, and for a very good reason. If you’ve ever come across Alaskan black cod, you may be a little surprised at, well … everything.

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