Point taken, although I've seen them in brackish water south of here.

For what it's worth, Princeton Seafood near the docks at Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay is a reliable purveyor of fresh seafood. Occasionally, we'll also walk the docks to see what we can buy off the boats.

I"m surprised restaurants in the US don't source yellow perch or walleye more. It's far more delicious than Tilipia.

I think I agree with this - it seems 1/2 the shelf space is salmon of one kind or another.

That said, in addition to the salmon, you can usually find local halibut, rock fish, petrale sole, albacore and striped bass. Not bad, but nowhere near the variety to be had on the other coast.

My SO is a native of the Cape as well. She's got one of the highest bars for seafood I've ever come across.

I agree that tilapia isn't the best but I think you're also giving short shrift to the west coast. While is may seem like halibut/salmon are the only things on the menu, you need to pay attention to the seasonal fish they have on offer. Rockfish, sardines, squid, mackerel, albacore, ling cod, herring, and seabass are delicious and available in season up and down the coast.

Your roots are showing :)

Growing up, we would fish on Lake Erie and you pretty much dropped a double hook thing into the water and would pull up 2 perch at a time - repeat as often as you needed.

When I lived in Portland, OR 10 years ago, Zupan's had pretty nice fish that wasn't super expensive.

But, when I was a student at Stanford 5 years before, I was pretty much limited to salmon from Safeway.

I'm a native of Michigan ^

You could always find a local restaurant with fresh versions of either. YUM.

I've never been to Michigan, aside from your main airport, but I've heard the fish is nice. However, I can't believe it can compare with Boston. :D

Both long-time residents of a good Wisconsin Friday night fish fry!

It isn't available as a cheap farmed commodity, readily commercially available, with stable pricing.

You really haven't lived until you've started baking your salads! And then you've earned your baked ice cream for dessert.

I am fortunate to live close to two very good fish markets. One is the purveyor for the best restaurants in the area. But you pay accordingly. Most fresh local sea product is $$$. And delicious. The other has a larger selection, including imported sashimi grade, high quality farmed, and whatever may be available locally. I nearly cry when I see the poor dead fishes in a supermarket case, likely frozen and defrosted at least a couple of times over. My loaves come from Acme and my fishes come from above. Don't hate. But if Tilapia is what is served in my local hole-in-the-wall's dish, I'll usually eat it.

My local supermarket in Brooklyn is pretty bad about this. I've asked for whole fish and larger portions ahead of time and they usually can accommodate but always with the proviso "It'll be frozen, that ok?" Absolutely! I'd prefer it that way. Seeing the limp salmon fillets with no color is depressing.

I'm up on the Cape quite a lot and their selection is fantastic but as discussed, very pricey. One of my favorite foods is Nantucket Bay Scallops and you better believe they are never cheap. I couldn't find them for less than $35 a lb this year. I've got a good relationship now with the guys and they give me a break on larger lobsters later in the summer. I'll never understand people's reticence to buy anything larger than a 1.5 lb lobster.

agreed. That being said I wonder why these two species aren't farmed commercially. I would think there would be a market but what do I know.