Young tautog—or blackfish—are illegal to be caught if the fish is less than 14 inches long. Underground markets in urban Chinatowns—like New York, Boston and Philly—sell these fish for top dollar. Native to the waters of Cape Cod and Rhode Island, the tautog are slowly going extinct due to overfishing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Pictured, tautog in a seafood restaurant on East Broadway, Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
(By Jacqueline Hlavenka, The Village Voice)
