Sea Robins, Triggerfish & Other Overlooked Seafood ─ The Complete Guide to Preparing and Serving Bycatch

Today, our oceans contain an abundance of delicious, underutilized, and lesser-known varieties of fish. Frequently, these unfamiliar species are pulled up when commercial fishermen are looking for something else. These nontargeted species—known as bycatch—are often dumped back into the ocean, dead or barely alive.

What if we didn’t discard those perfectly edible fish? What if we introduced them to consumers looking for a change on the menu who care about where their seafood comes from? That’s what Sea Robbins, Triggerfish, & other Overlooked Seafood is all about—taking the pressure off heavily targeted species like swordfish and tuna and introducing home cooks and professional chefs to many new species being unloaded on today’s docks.

Let’s celebrate these other fish in the sea by enjoying a bounty of mouthwatering recipes prepared by Chef Matthew Pietsch, owner of the celebrated Michigan restaurant Salt of the Earth. Pietsch’s vast culinary knowledge and skill demonstrated through his fun, straightforward approach, will guide seafood lovers every step of the way as he and James Beard award winner James O. Fraioli encourage seafood consumers to support and promote those underutilized and underappreciated fisheries while still enjoying quality seafood at an affordable price.

Matthew Pietsch is the executive chef and owner of the celebrated restaurant Salt of the Earth, where he has been directing the farm-to-table concept since day one. He serves up fresh, sustainable seafood and is devoted to sustainability. He resides in Fennville, Michigan.

James O. Fraioli has twenty-four cookbooks and a James Beard Award to his credit. His titles have been featured on the Food Network, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and in the New York Times. The author is notorious for teaming up with celebrity chefs, mixologists, and world-renowned restauranteurs to showcase the best the culinary world has to offer. He resides in Redmond, Washington.

Fabien Cousteau is the director of the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring the world’s bodies of water. He’s also an ocean conservationist and documentary filmmaker. He resides in New York City.