Redfish (Sciaenops ocellatus) — Texas State Saltwater Fish

Name: Redfish (Sciaenops ocellatus)
Brand: Turtle Creek Aquaculture

Species data card

Common names: Redfish (also Red Drum, channel bass, spot-tail bass)
Scientific: Sciaenops ocellatus
Family: Sciaenidae (drums and croakers)
Native range: Western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico — Texas coastal waters at the heart of its historic range
Markings: Coppery-bronze body, distinctive black spot near the tail (the ocellus); sometimes more than one
Texas status: Official State Saltwater Fish of Texas; designated a Texas game fish in 1981
What we ship: Whole or filleted · harvested to order · lot-tagged

In Texas

Second-most-popular saltwater sport fish in Texas.

Per Texas Parks & Wildlife, Redfish is the second-most-popular saltwater sport fish in Texas (after spotted seatrout). It reaches sexual maturity at 3–4 years and roughly 30 inches in length. A single mature female can release between 20 and 40 million eggs per year.

It is also illegal to commercially harvest Redfish from Texas waters. Aquaculture is what keeps it on chef menus and in seafood-distributor case lists. Read the regulatory backstory →

Source: TPWD — Red Drum brochure (PDF)

Why Redfish

Four reasons we picked one species and stuck with it.

01

Native species.

Farming a regional native rather than an exotic eliminates ecological-displacement risk and aligns with TPWD conservation priorities. We chose Sciaenops ocellatus on principle, not on margin.

02

Versatile in the kitchen.

Firm, mild, white flesh with moderate fat content. Holds up to blackening (the dish that put redfish on the U.S. map in the 1980s), grilling, roasting, and ceviche.

03

Year-round when farmed.

Wild Redfish has tight regulatory windows. Farmed Redfish lets a chef build a menu without seasonal whiplash. We harvest twice a week.

04

Conservation value.

Hatchery fingerlings support TPWD and partner stocking programs that have rebuilt the wild fishery since its near-collapse in the 1980s. The wild fishery is part of our mission, not a side market.

Cooking

A fish a chef can build a menu around.

Redfish is firm, mild, and white-fleshed. It blackens. It grills. It roasts. It cures cleanly for ceviche or crudo. Skin-on, skin-off, whole, filleted — it doesn't fight the kitchen.

Two preparations, both linked, neither republished here.

Half Shell

Redfish on the Half Shell

Skin-on fillet, garlic butter, baked or grilled scales-down. The reference recipe and procedure is published by NOAA Fisheries with attribution to Turtle Creek Aquaculture.

Read on NOAA Fisheries

Blackened

Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish

The canonical 1980 cast-iron-skillet preparation that put redfish on the national menu. The reference recipe is hosted at NYT Cooking; we link, we don't republish.

Read on NYT Cooking

Recipe links route to the publishers. Per our voice and compliance posture, we credit and link rather than reproduce.

Cultural anchor

"The red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), commonly known in Texas as redfish, was popularized in the early 1980s by Chef Paul Prudhomme when he created 'blackened redfish.'"

— Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Red Drum brochure

Prudhomme first served the dish at K-Paul's in New Orleans in March 1980. Within a few years it was so popular that wild Gulf catches climbed from 2.7 million pounds (1980) to 8.3 million pounds (1986), and the U.S. Department of Commerce closed Gulf federal waters to redfish fishing in 1987. Texas had already designated Redfish a state game fish in 1981.

Today, commercial harvest of wild redfish is illegal in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, and federal Gulf waters. Mississippi is the only state where it remains legal. Why every U.S. commercial redfish is farmed →

Common questions

What people ask about redfish.

What is redfish?

Redfish (Sciaenops ocellatus) is a coppery-bronze fish native to the Western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, with a distinctive black ocellus spot near the tail. It is the official Texas State Saltwater Fish and the second-most-popular saltwater sport fish in Texas per TPWD.

Is redfish the same as red drum?

Yes. "Redfish" and "red drum" are the same species — Sciaenops ocellatus, in the Sciaenidae (drums and croakers) family. Texas usage favors "redfish"; Gulf federal and scientific usage favors "red drum." Both names appear in TPWD materials. Other regional common names include channel bass and spot-tail bass.

What does redfish taste like?

Firm, mild, white flesh with moderate fat. It holds up to blackening (the preparation Paul Prudhomme popularized in 1980), grilling, roasting, ceviche, and crudo. Skin-on, skin-off, whole, or filleted — it does not fight the kitchen. The half-shell preparation (skin-on fillet, scales-down) is a NOAA-referenced classic. See cooking section.

Is farmed redfish sustainable?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program rates U.S. pond-farmed redfish as Best Choice — a category-level rating, not a per-farm rating. Turtle Creek uses recirculating systems, settling basins, and a constructed saltmarsh wetland for discharge polishing. See our practices.

Why is all U.S. commercial redfish farmed?

Commercial harvest of wild redfish is illegal in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, and federal Gulf waters. The bans followed the 1980–1986 wild-catch crash triggered by the blackened-redfish craze; Texas designated redfish a state game fish in 1981, and the federal ban came in 1987. Mississippi is the only state where commercial wild-redfish harvest remains legal. Read the regulatory history.

Where does Texas redfish come from?

Per the USDA 2023 Census of Aquaculture, 8 of 9 commercial U.S. redfish farms are in Texas. Turtle Creek Aquaculture is in Palacios, Texas, on Matagorda Bay — the heart of the species' historic native range. See how we ship.

What we don't farm

One species. On purpose.

We do not farm tilapia, catfish, salmon, branzino, or any non-native species. Every species choice is a values choice. Sticking to one native species lets us go deeper on quality, husbandry, and story — and keeps us off-mission from the trends.

If a chef or distributor wants tilapia, we'll point them to a peer who does it well. If they want Texas Redfish, we are built for that.

Who buys this fish