{"id":23855,"date":"2026-09-21T15:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T15:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/23855\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T15:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T15:39:10","slug":"why-is-massachusetts-trying-to-make-flounder-go-viral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/23855\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Massachusetts trying to make flounder go viral?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFood News\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe state\u2019s \u201cFlat is Back\u201d campaign is putting the underutilized fish on menus at restaurants across Massachusetts \u2014 and trying to help local fishermen in the process.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries\t<\/p>\n

The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is trying to make flounder go viral. <\/p>\n

At the beginning of September, the department launched its \u201cFlat is Back\u201d campaign with 10 local chefs highlight the fish on their menus all month long. The campaign aims to put flatfish that is already caught on consumers\u2019 plates and support the \u201cdepressed\u201d cost of flounder, said Dan McKiernan, the director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.<\/p>\n

\u201cMassachusetts flounder is a beautiful fish to cook with\u2014it\u2019s fresh, delicate, and incredibly versatile,\u201d Jeremy Sewall, chef and owner of Row 34 and one of the participating chefs, said in a statement. \u201cBy putting it on our menus, we can create something memorable for diners while supporting the local fishermen and coastal communities that make Massachusetts seafood so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flounder, also known as sole, dab, fluke, and plaice, is best baked or saut\u00e9ed and cooking it \u201crequire[s] a little more skill\u201d due to its thinness, which occurs because flounder live horizontally on the ocean floor, McKiernan said. Despite its thin nature, flounder has the \u201cfantastic flavor\u201d of a mild white fish and minimal flakiness, McKiernan said.<\/p>\n

Through Sept. 30, the 10 chefs, known as the Massachusetts Flounder Chef Council, are featuring dishes including cassava flounder croquettes, crab-stuffed flounder, and coconut and sesame crusted sole lettuce wraps at restaurants across Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Although McKiernan is unsure how flounder is faring on local menus, the department\u2019s posts about \u201cFlat is Back\u201d are doing seven times better than their typical posts about events, he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 20 years, some of the [flounder] stocks were very low in abundance\u201d due to overfishing, causing flounder to lose its share of the market, McKiernan said. <\/p>\n

Flounder are caught alongside other fish species by Massachusetts fishermen. However, \u201cthe founder species are among the most underutilized fish\u201d in terms of its yearly quota, which can cause the price to collapse to under $1 per pound and commercial fishermen to leave the area, said McKiernan. <\/p>\n

Additionally, consumer preference shifting toward salmon, haddock, cod, and other fish contributed to flounder\u2019s decrease in popularity. In 2023, 77% of all seafood consumed\u00a0in America came from just 10 species, with shrimp, salmon, and canned tuna being the most popular, according to the National Seafood Association.<\/p>\n

Restaurants serving flounder through Sept. 30:
\nBistro du Midi in Boston<\/p>\n

Comfort Kitchen in Dorchester<\/p>\n

Catalyst Restaurant in Cambridge<\/p>\n

Puritan Oyster Bar in Cambridge<\/p>\n

The Black Whale in New Bedford<\/p>\n

Candela Cucina in New Bedford<\/p>\n

National Club Mexican Cantina in New Bedford<\/p>\n

Davio\u2019s Northern Italian Restaurant in Boston, Lynnfield, and Foxborough<\/p>\n

Row 34 in Boston, Cambridge, and Burlington<\/p>\n

Sail Loft in Dartmouth<\/p>\n

Sloane\u2019s Tavern at Miraval Wyndhurst in Lenox<\/p>\n

Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham<\/p>\n

Straight Fish Wharf in Nantucket<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the Today newsletter<\/p>\n

Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Food News The state\u2019s \u201cFlat is Back\u201d campaign is putting the underutilized fish on menus at restaurants across Massachusetts \u2014 and trying to help local fishermen in the process. Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is trying to make flounder go viral. At the beginning of September, the department launched<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[3335,3333,3331,3334,3332],"class_list":["post-23855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-massachusetts","tag-massachusetts","tag-massachusetts-dining","tag-massachusetts-food","tag-massachusetts-grocery-stores","tag-massachusetts-restaurant"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117309784973288057","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}