'From the nutritional, environmental and economic points of view, it makes perfect sense to use all parts of the fish,' Toppe tells The Salt.

And using such scraps for human food could also benefit the environment by reducing pollution from processing facilities. He says there are lots of incentives for developing the market for fish heads and bones at a mass scale.įish bones, brains, cartilage and fat are nutritious, containing extra-high levels of vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc and calcium, according to Toppe. Jogeir Toppe, a scientist with the FAO in Rome, studies the economics and logistics of utilizing fish byproducts. Heads of farmed Atlantic salmon for sale at an Asian-owned grocery store in San Francisco. 'We must ensure that these byproducts are not wasted,' Audun Lem, chief of FAO's products, trade and marketing branch, said in a statement. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization recently called out the absurdity of this waste, suggesting it's time to get more fish heads on people's plates. And with little demand for fish byproducts worldwide, most heads, tails and carcasses are processed into livestock feed or farm fertilizer or thrown back into the sea. I devoured all but their backbones and ribs, which I threw in the fire pit to char.īut most North Americans and Europeans miss out on the joys of fish heads, preferring to eat only clean, boneless filets. Even the eyeballs and the softer pieces of cartilage were delicious. The highlight, for me, were their heads, which oozed with sizzling fat and were packed with extra-tender meat along the jawbones, around the eye sockets, below the gill plates and in the cheeks.

The head of a cabezon fish prepared by the author.Ībout a decade ago, I backpacked the coastal desert of Baja California, Mexico, feasting daily on snapper and corvina that I caught and grilled whole over driftwood beach fires.

Fish heads menu