| Species |
Color, Taste, Texture |
Description |
| | |
| Tuna (Thunnus obesus) Bigeye |
The flesh has a natural reddish-pinkish flesh color and is lean and has a small flake an fine flavor. Fresh bigeye may be sold already prepared as sashimi, and it is also marketed as loins, loin sections, or steaks at fish markets or markets with fish counter service or self-service counters. |
Bigeye tuna are found in tropical and subtropical waters. The largest producers of bigeye tuna are Taiwan and Japan. Other significant producers are Indonesia, China, Spain, Korea, and Ecuador. Bigeye tunaconsumed in the domestic market typically originates from the US waters. The best of the catch, that which has high oil content, is frozen for sashimi. Its length is between 60 and 250 cm (23 and 93 inches). Maximum weight possibly exceeds 400 lb with the all-tackle angling record standing at 392 lbs.
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| Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Bluefin |
Raw the meat is firm and dark, almost red. Cooked bluefin has a rather firm texture and a distinctively strong flavor, which is reduced if the meat is brined overnight before cooking. |
Blue fin tuna is one of the largest of all fishes and capable of reaching 1,500 lbs. The fish is found in many of the world's oceans and can tolerate much cooler water than most other tunas. Demand for bluefin is very strong, and pressure on the resource has led to strict commercial and recreational restrictions. |
| Opakapaka (Pristipomoides filamentosus) |
Opakapaka has a clear, light pink flesh that is firm in texture. Its delicate flavor has gained the opakapaka a reputation as Hawaii's premium table snapper. Fish caught during the winter months seem to have a higher fat content than those caught in the summer, and opakapaka yields the best sashimi during the winter season. |
Commonly known as crimson snapper or Hawaiian pink snapper, although its skin is light brown. Opakapaka are usually caught at depths between 30 and 100 fathoms. Fish caught over hard bottoms have brighter skin colors than those caught over soft bottoms.
Although this species occurs throughout the tropical Pacific, nowhere does it grow as large as in the Hawaiian Islands. When a new opakapaka fishing area is discovered, the initial size of fish caught may be 12 to 18 pounds. Opakapaka of this size could be at least 10 years old.
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| Opah or moonfish (Lampris regius) |
This species has found a place on restaurant menus as a "catch of the day. Moonfish, or opah, is a bony fish, its flesh is rich, meaty and to the aficionado, as savory as salmon. Its firm, pink-to-orange flesh turns white when cooked. The deeper colored flesh is used in making sushi and the lighter flesh is ideal for grilling.
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One of the most colorful of the commercial fish species available in Hawaii. A silvery-grey upper body color shades to a rose red dotted with white spots toward the belly. Its fins are crimson, and its large eyes are encircled with gold. The moonfish's large, round profile may be the origin of its name. Moonfish landed in Hawaii range from 60 to over 200 pounds in round weight. A pelagic wandering species, it is often found in the company of tunas and billfish.
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| Ono (Acanthocybium solandri) |
It is not possible for restaurants to offer fresh mahimahi throughout the year, so chefs have looked to other white-fleshed species, including ono, as substitutes. Ono flesh is whiter, flakier, and has a more delicate texture than the meat of other fast-swimming, pelagic species. |
Commonly known as Wahoo, is a close relative of the king mackerel. Unlike true mackerel, ono rarely school, but groups may be found around fish aggregation buoys. Surface catches indicate that ono associate with banks, pinnacles and flotsam. However, long line catches suggest that this species is also widely distributed in the open ocean.
Ono may grow to more than 100 pounds in round weight, but the usual size of the fish caught in Hawaii is 8 to 30 pounds in round weight.
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