I'm just curious, but are at Pappas seafood last night. Ordered redfish pontchartrain and it was good. However, I'm trying to figure out what version of "redfish" the fillet was.

Very white flaky meat. It was definitely not red drum, which I love to eat btw.

I'm guessing it was ocean perch / rockfish (sebastes)

Anyone else in the know or have a theory?

Menu might say redfish, but it probably wasn't.

Probably tilapia.

Farm raised redfish.

It's farm raised red fish.

Bruce Almighty said:

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Probably tilapia.

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I love when a "seafood" restaurant offers tilapia on the menu. Let's me know I shouldn't take them seriously.

It's farm raised redfish. The red snapper is wild caught. They often have 2-3 wild caught options. I order the same, but I sub the red snapper for the redfish. Can't beat it.

Thanks for the answers.

So farm raised red fish has a whiter meat than wild caught?

No noticeable blood lines.

Yes. Any Redfish you buy, either at a restaurant or grocery store is farm raised, and they have a whiter color, and slightly different texture. They are still good, but no where close to the ones you catch yourself.

I thought black drum was the usual substitute for red fish.

https://thegroundtruthproject.org/texas-redfish-farmers-barely-survived-the-pandemic-then-came-the-february-deep-freeze/

smstork1007 said:

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Yes. Any Redfish you buy, either at a restaurant or grocery store is farm raised, and they have a whiter color, and slightly different texture. They are still good, but no where close to the ones you catch yourself.

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Redfish is considered a game fish, so wild caught can't be sold IIRC per Texas law. Has to be farm raised to be available for commercial sale if it is a game fish or animal.

Are you sure it works that was for fish vs animals? Lots of mahi etc on menus all over

terradactylexpress said:

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Are you sure it works that was for fish vs animals? Lots of mahi etc on menus all over

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Mahi (dolphinfish or dorado) is not considered a game fish

Game fish per TPWD:

• Bass: Alabama, Guadalupe, largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, striped, white, yellow
• Catfish: blue, channel, flathead
• Cobia
• Crappie: black, white
• Mackerel: king, Spanish
• Marlin: blue, white
• Pickerel
• Red drum
• Sailfish
• Seatrout, spotted
• Sharks
• Snook
• Spearfish, longbill
• Swordfish, broadbill
• Tarpon
• Tripletail
• Trout: brown, rainbow
• Wahoo
• Walleye

Farm raised are allowable because they were never wild gamefish.

Fish that cannot be sold commercially even if caught by a commercially licensed captain in Texas waters:

Provided all other commercial fishing regulations are met, including licensing, and size, possession and bag limits, saltwater fish species NOT LISTED BELOW may be taken from public waters and sold. Species listed below MAY NOT be taken for commercial purposes:

• Bass of genus Micropterus
• Bass, striped or white or yellow
• Catfish, flathead
• Crappie, black or white
• Drum, red
• Grouper, Goliath or Nassau
• Marlin, blue or white
• Sailfish
• Seatrout, spotted
• Snook
• Spearfish, longbill
• Tarpon
• Hybrids of these fish

Yes, that is why i said any Redfish you eat in a restaurant or buy in a grocery store/seafood market, is farm raised, been that way a very long time now.

Awesome, I didn't realize the distinction between game and non game fish