Snapper, Hawaiian Gray / Uku / Green jobfish

Hawaiian gray snapper, also known as uku or green jobfish, may be contaminated with a tropical marine toxin that causes ciguatera, a serious foodborne illness that improves with time but has no cure.  Ciguatera is found in tropical reef fish, and cannot be cooked out of food. Be sure to ask at restaurants whether your tropical fish has been tested for the presence of this toxin. If you choose to eat tropical reef fish, consuming small portions and selecting smaller-sized fish may help you avoid the more serious side effects of this toxin.

Although limited information is available on mercury contamination in this particular species, most snappers are considered to have low to moderate mercury levels. This fish is native to reefs along coastal areas of the central and western Pacific Ocean, from eastern Asia and the northern parts of Australia to the Hawaiian Islands. Although there is limited information on the bottomfish that live throughout this region, gray snapper is believed to be seasonally abundant during the summer months. Hawaiian gray snapper are usually deepwater line-caught, a method that results in minimal bycatch; they are also occasionally trolled with traditional surface hook-and-line methods.