No matter what kind of fish is kept for the table there are a few guidelines that can make a tremendous difference in the eating quality.

This is a long post since it is an article I did for Fish Alaska a few years back, but one I hope will encourage people to make the utmost care in handling fish bound for the table.

Sebastes

The photos show a pink being bled, a pair of Coho on ice and the difference in fillet quality from a bled and an unbled rockfish.


Keeping Them Fresh

By

Doug Wilson



There is nothing that will go to mush much faster than a pink salmon tossed on deck or in a fish box without ice.
Proper care of any fish will make all the difference in its quality as table fare.
The get-little-respect pink can be a fine dinner if it is properly taken care of the minute it comes off your hook. Treat is otherwise and it will be a mushy, tasteless mess.
I’ve picked this very abundant salmon as an example to start learning about proper fish care. It is probably the most fragile flesh of any fish you’ll take from Alaskan waters.
Use a few extra minutes to care for your fish in the field and you’ll have a much better product for the dinner table.
This applies to any fish you may catch for the table, be it salmon, pike, halibut, trout, char, rockfish, ling cod or others.
Here are some methods and tools than will make your catch more tasty while providing longer shelf live in the refrigerator or freezer.
W.B.I.----Whack, bleed and ice are steps that may sound unpleasant to some. But they are crucial steps to preserving quality of fish taken for the table.,
The first step to quality table fare is a good fish club.
A sharp whack on the head will stun the fish. This quickly puts the fish out of any perceived misery it may be suffering. After a fish is decommissioned by stunning with a fish cub, the heart muscle will continue to beat. This is important as removing as much blood from the fish as soon as possible will make a major improvement in flavor and shelf life.
Blood is the first thing that bacteria breaks down in a dead fish.
Bleed a fish immediately by cutting a single gill arch . Reach inside the gill plate at the back of the fish’s head to cut a single gill arch.
Cutting a gill results in most of the of this blood being pumped out of the flesh.
Use a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen shears.
A word of caution here, some anglers will break a gill arch with their finger. It works OK on some fish, but others like ling cod or pike have sharp gill rakers that will result in a nasty cut on your index finger. This can ruin a day’s fishing, so use the proper tools.
Bled fish will last under refrigeration for about five days. If they are to be kept longer it should be frozen as soon a possible.
Keeping your catch cold is the next and a most necessary step. Icing fish as soon as possible will keep your catch firm and fresh. The colder the better.
If you are planning a extended fishing trip and can pack an ice chest for the trip, shaved ice is the very best choice. It however is not always readily obtainable.
Cubed ice melts more quickly. Fish floating in melted ice water will go soft more quickly that that kept packed in ice in layers.
To keep fish in better condition on ice, it is a good idea to build a rack for the bottom of an ice chest for the water to drain. Other methods include layering the bottom of the ice chest with frozen one-quart milk bottles or using block ice. Either method will take up more space than a draining rack.
A sheet of plywood with drain holes drilled through it set on a couple of two by two slats works well for keeping fish from soaking in melted ice water. Layer the rack with ice before fishing so your catch will be kept cold on both sides. As you catch additional fish, add a layer of ice between each layer of fish.
If you can’t ice your fish immediately, then evaporation is you next best cooling technique. Long used by commercial trollers, fish stored in an open fish box can be kept cooler by placing a wet burlap bag over the catch.
On most charter boat operations your catch will be tossed in a hold or fish box, most likely without refrigeration. Some skippers and deck hands will bleed a fish, others won’t. If you are concerned about the quality of your catch by the time it reaches the table, you might consider asking if they will bleed your fish for you once it is in the fish box. Understand that when fish are coming over the rail in rapid succession that this may not be one of their priorities.
Once your is cut in the round, or filleted, keep it well packed in ice while transporting it home.
When freezing,, spread packages of fish out on the freezer shelf so that it will freeze quickly. Don’t make the mistake of piling package after package on top of each other, as some packages fill not freeze properly. The quicker a fish is frozen the quicker it is preserved.

I once spent a few days on a troller out of Sitka that flash froze their salmon at sea, At 45 degrees below zero, the fish was frozen solid within two hours. Basically is was two hours old and when slowly thawed months later, was as fresh as it had been the day it was caught and frozen. This treatment of commercial troll caught fish brought the best prices from the high end restaurant and fish markets the fisherman sold to in the Seattle area.
Fresh fish smells fresh. If your fish smells fishy, it will be poor table fare. Oftentimes people say they do not like fish. I have had more than one quest change their mind after having well prepared, carefully handled fish that is fresh or was frozen properly.
All the sauces, lemons, and seasoning you can use to disguise the flavor of poorly handled fish will never take the place of fresh or fresh frozen fish that has been taken care of from the moment it is taken from the water.
If you are going to freeze fish for prolonged storage, vacuum packing is far superior to just freezing in a plastic bag. If you cannot vacuum pack. freezing the fish in water so it is encased in ice is the next best, if not somewhat space demanding method.
Some fish keep better and longer than others. On some white meated fish you will notice a reddish layer of flesh along the middle of the fillet on the skin side. The flesh tends to have the strongest flavor and in some fishes is best removed from the fillet, particularly if the fish is to be frozen more than a couple of months. Salmon have this same strip of flesh, but it is usually a brownish color.
The best way to have the finest table fare is to fish often, keep only what you will eat in a reasonable amount of time and be sure to follow the simple rules of WBI, whack, bleed, and ice.
Your dinner guests will appreciate the effort without ever knowing how this particular fish dinner came to be so tasty.

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