A family of large edible marine gastropods having an ear-shaped shell with a row of holes along the outer edge. The colorful pearly interior of the shell (the famous “mother of pearl”) is often used for making ornaments. The abalone is normally found on rocks in kelp beds (it eats kelp). It is common to dive for abalone in water that is six to more than 20 feet deep. An eight-inch abalone is considered a good catch, nine inches extremely good, and a ten-inch plus abalone would be a trophy catch. Rock picking is a separate method from diving, where the rock picker feels underneath rocks at low tides for abalone.

AMBERJACK
A food and game fish native to temperate and tropical marine waters. Pompano is a member of the amberjack family.  The average amberjack is 40 to 50 pounds. The yellowtail kingfish (Seriola ialandi), sashimi yellowtail, is also known as amberjack.

A small saltwater fish belonging to the herring family that is native to the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel. Typically no more than six inches in length, the anchovy is green-colored as a fresh fish, but changes to a greyish-black color when cured. Similar to a sardine in size, it is used in the same way as a sardine, in appetizers or as a seasoning or garnish in salads, soups, pasta or pizza. Anchovies are processed into filets and preserved by curing them in salt and packing them in olive oil, by pickling the filets in vinegar and oil or by preserving the filets as fresh fish. When cured, they become dark black in color and salty in flavor.

This very ugly, but very tasty fish is also known as monkfish, lotte, bellyfish, frogfish, sea devil and goosefish. The name “angler” comes from the wormlike filament that grows from its head, by which it lures prey, fishing much like an angler. It has low-fat and firm-textured meat that is mild and sweet—similar to lobster; it is sometimes called “poor man’s lobster.” The only edible portion of this fish is the tail, which can be cooked in most any fish preparation.

The arctic char is related to both the salmon and the trout (the Mackinaw trout or lake trout is actually a char). There are both freshwater and saltwater char; both live in the icy waters of North America and Europe. Once almost exclusively a game fish, char is now farm-raised for commercial use. Government-sponsored fish farms in Iceland have made char more widely available. It has sweet and tender pink flesh with a flavor and texture that’s a cross between trout and salmon. Most often, char is prepared roasted or smoked. Salmon or striped bass are good comparisons (and substitutes).

Also called Eastern or East Coast oyster, this species has a thick, elongated shell that measures from two to five inches at its widest point. There are dozens of regional varieties, and most get their distinctive names based on the region. The most well-known is the ubiquitous Bluepoint oyster (originally named for an area on the southern shore of Long Island, but this has become a generic name for Atlantic oysters); there are dozens more, including Malpeque, Kent Island and Fisher Island oysters. Even though they are called Atlantic oysters, they are caught wild from Newfoundland to Colombia and in Europe, as well as on Florida’s Gulf Coast, in Australia, Chile, Japan and New Zealand. They are also farmed along the Atlantic coast of the U.S.