The blue grenadier (also known as hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, or whiptail hake, ''Macruronus novaezelandiae'') is a merluccid hake of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Merlucciidae The merlucciidae, commonly called merluccid hakes , are a family of cod-like fish, including most hakes. They are native to cold water in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and typically are found at depths greater than in subtropical, temperate, ...

found around southern

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and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, as well as off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America from

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at depths of between . It feeds in midwater on small squids,

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s, and fish. Its length is between . It is a slender, silvery fish similar in appearance to the gemfish. The meat of the fish is white and almost always sold in fillets; culinarily it is considered a whitefish.

Commercial use

Australian supermarkets have many hoki products, mainly in pre-packaged processed foods. Often the manufactured meat result is manufactured into a fish cutlet shape and then battered or crumbed to further give a good fresh look. The hoki is one of the species used in

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Filet-O-Fish, Fish Fingers and McFish sandwiches. It was previously served at Long John Silver's and

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restaurants in the

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, and continues to be served at Denny's in New Zealand. The blue grenadier is a very important commercial species in Australia. They are mostly caught in the south-east, off southern New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia and are considered very good eating, particularly when fresh.

Sustainable consumption

The blue grenadier is the subject of a large commercial fishery industry in New Zealand, which has been certified by the

Marine Stewardship Council The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organisation which aims to set standards for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a tea ...

(MSC) as well-managed and sustainable in March 2001. New Zealand has established a fishing quota of about 100,000 tons. The first MSC certification ended in April 2007. Reassessment of the certification commenced in early 2005 and finished in October 2007."Meet the fishers."

. No date. Accessed 2009-09-10 A 2009 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' article raised questions over the sustainability of blue grenadier fishing practices around New Zealand, though its conclusions were disputed by New Zealand representatives. However, recent quotas on catches have been reduced by nearly two thirds from 275,000 to 100,000 tons. In 2010,

Greenpeace International Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its ...

added the blue grenadier (hoki) to its seafood red list. The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand (Forest & Bird) assigns hoki an E grade (red - avoid). Both organisations state damage to the sea floor due to bottom trawling and bycatch of species such as New Zealand fur seals, albatrosses, petrels and basking sharks as the primary reasons for the ratings. In September 2013, as New Zealand Hoki, it continued to appear on the MSC's list of sustainable fish."Sustainable Seafood Shopping."

. No date. Accessed 2013-09-28

References

External links

World Aquaculture's Hoki ProfileTerra Curanda Fisheries Section
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue grenadier

blue grenadier The blue grenadier (also known as hoki, blue hake, New Zealand whiptail, or whiptail hake, ''Macruronus novaezelandiae'') is a Merlucciidae, merluccid hake of the family (biology), family Merlucciidae found around southern Australia (continent), A ...

Commercial fish Marine fish of New Zealand Marine fish of Southern Australia

Commercial use

Sustainable consumption

References

Further reading

External links