Dissostichus, the toothfish, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefish.
[3] "Chilean sea bass" is a marketing name coined in 1977 by Lee Lantz, a fish wholesaler who wanted a more attractive name for selling the Patagonian toothfish to Americans.
[4][5][6] In 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted "Chilean sea bass" as an "alternative market name" for Patagonian toothfish.
[6] The toothfish was remarkably successful in the United States, Europe and Asia, and earned the nickname "white gold" within the market.
[24] The fish, marketed as "Chilean Sea Bass," became widely successful in restaurants due to its large size and white, oily flesh, which can be cooked in numerous ways.
[6] Fish were collected in massive numbers, first in Chile and later in Argentina after the Chilean population declined abruptly in 1994.
[28] The Patagonian toothfish, which has been caught and sold since 1977, is currently being removed legally from the Southern Ocean at an estimated rate of 12,000 to 17,000 tons per year.
[28] The Antarctic toothfish, which has been caught and sold since 1988, is currently being removed legally from the Southern Ocean at an estimated rate of 4,000 tons per year.
[29] As of 2014, CCAMLR was allowing fisheries to remove the Antarctic toothfish at rates that would reduce the population to 50 percent of its current biomass.
However, some scientists are concerned that estimations of toothfish biomass may be inaccurate due to a number of factors, including illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.
[6][31] However, centralized international collaborative efforts (between Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and France) to mitigate IUU activities have been reported as successful.
Tag-and-release experiments on the Patagonian toothfish have indicated that most individuals migrate an average of 15 miles from their habitat, and that any migratory movement generally occurs after the fishes reach maturity.
[40] However, some anecdotal evidence demonstrates that the Patagonian toothfish may be capable of migrating between the northern and southern poles, likely by submerging beneath tropical and temperate waters.
[41] The Patagonian toothfish spawns in deep waters during the austral winter and early spring, between June and September.
Adult fish are generally found at depths greater than 500 m.[19] The life cycle of the Antarctic toothfish is less well-characterized.
Scientists have not yet collected any juvenile or larvae Antarctic toothfish[45] and have not yet verified the location, season or frequency of spawning activity.
[46] Current data suggests that spawning requires a large amount of reproductive tissue, and may not occur annually.
[47] In June 2010, 500 scientists formed the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), advocating to CCAMLR for special protection of the entire Ross Sea.
[49] As a result, a number of restaurant and grocery owners have publicly opted not to prepare or sell Chilean Sea Bass.