Episode Details

Most Israelis couldn't name five local fish species, yet the eastern Mediterranean has been fished for 3,000 years. This episode dives into the waters off Israel's coast to explore what's actually swimming there — from prized gilthead sea bream and threatened dusky grouper to the bizarre hallucinogenic salema. Then there's the Lessepsian migration: over 100 Red Sea species have crossed the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, with rabbitfish now making up 40-80% of biomass on some reefs. We cover which fish are worth eating, how the Aswan Dam collapsed sardine stocks, and whether ordering grouper is a red flag for sustainability.