BLACK COD (SABLEFISH)

Black cod is, in actuality, sablefish. Unfortunately (for both you and the fish), it’s hardly ever called sablefish and is more popularly called black cod. This is no new problem, though. The fish’s name has been a sore subject for fishermen for more than a century. According to a 1916 article in the Pacific Fisherman, “The general feeling [is] 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.”