Tuna care... after the catch....

[blubeast]

I remember a few months ago there was a post explaining the process of carking/bleeding/and cooling tuna after they're caught.

I did several searches and could not locate that post. Could anyone pls post a link to it, or explain again the process.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Pilar]

Dale I don't know where it went. Sorry we missed you yesterday. We did not make it until after 4 or 5. BTW I have some supplies for working over the wiring in your boat. Heat shrink and solder and a can full of connectors and ring terminals ... I'll catch up with you this mid week.

Anyway the care of tuna starts when you are catching them. I love standup for the sport of it but for eaters I prefer handline fish. They are only on for a few minutes and do not burn themselves up during a long fight.

The fish come to the boat at 90 degrees or better internal temperature. If you just stack them up on the deck they will beat the deck with their tails and cook fron the inside out. Each fish must carefully and completely bled and chilled to remove built up internal heat.

What happens on my boat is the fish comes to the boat and is hauled over the rail by the leader. (use gloves) Once in the boat the fish is sliced along the lateral line above where the pec fin joins the body. Insert the knife point to the backbone about 1/2 " above the recess where the pec fin folds into the body. Pull the knife about two inches towards the tail making a deep slit along the lateral line.

Blood will spew as wide as 2 fingers. Some folks now bleed the fish in a box on the swimstep or on a rope. I skip that since the sharks can have none of my tuna. It's, mine, all mine. I let the fish bleed on the deck while prying the hook out and stab it in the head to spike it and complete the kill.

Then the magic happens. A chill tank with a mixture of salt water (10 gallons) 2 or 3 10# blocks of ice and 20 lbs of cubes or shave ice. Throw that silver bullet in the chilling tank for at least 15 minutes. Keep adding fish until the tank is full. Then pack your cooled catch in ice for transport.

An Albacore can and will burn it's own weight in ice.

Oh and use a lid because they wake up and spew water with the motor boat tail. You must chill the fish before you pack it in ice for maximum heat transfer and a low internal temp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

Later at the fish cleaning station your ice cold tuna will give up firm and tasty filets. They are much easier to cut up when cold and firm and the the meat stays clear instead of bloodshot and mushy. Dale, I'll demo cleaning these bad boys in person at Depoe bay if your in for that.

Take care of them right from the time you are fishing till you can or eat them.

[ 06-29-2003, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: Pilar ]

[Myles]

Dale, is this it?
http://www.bctfa.com/handling.htm

Recommendations For Handling Of Albacore Tuna

We gonna dee down there this week?

myles

[Robalo Bill]

Here is another interesting paper on handling tuna, it's in PDF form, you will need adobe acrobat to launch.

Bill

http://www.spc.org.nc/coastfish/Sect...te/sashimi.pdf

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

[blubeast]

Thanks guys... yes this is the info I wanted to see.

Pilar... regading the 'head spike'... any particular spot to poke em?

thanks again...

[Thumper]

From the article:

"To spike an albacore, position yourself so that you are balanced with the fish positioned on its belly, and the spiking tool (an ice pick or a sharpened screwdriver) firmly in one hand and the fish's tail in the other. Do not attempt spiking without complete control of your balance, the spiking tool and the fish. Place the spike at the soft spot above the eyes at a 30 degree angle to the horizontal.

"Push the spike quickly into the skull maintaining the 30 degree angle while holding the tail with your other hand. Move the instrument from side to side to destroy the brain. The fish will shudder, all the muscles will flex, the mouth will open, and the pectoral fins will flue. After one or two seconds the fish will go limp if done properly.

"If not done properly, the fish can shudder violently creating the potential for personal injury, and further scale loss and bruising to the fish. With slippery conditions this procedure can be a challenge, but after several attempts brain destruction is swift and thorough."

Ewwwwwwww ... :depressed:

[ 06-30-2003, 06:22 AM: Message edited by: Thumper ]

[tailchaser]

I'll chime in and try to advise on what we do. We have a small garbage can sitting on the platform of the boat filled with 1/3 full of seawater. Once the fish gets to the boat we immediately rip a gill and throw it head first into the can. With the seawater in there it quickly sucks the blood out while the fish thrashes around a little and gets it out for himself. In a couple of minutes the fish is bled and dead, and is transported to the ice cooler. Hardly any blood gets on the deck of the boat and is a lot easier to clean and deal with while fishing. It's a great process to keep your boat from looking like a mass murder scene. They usually don't touch the deck until they're bled out completely. Every now and then you have to dump the contents of the barrell and start over with fresh water but that's about it.

tc

[blubeast]

Good info... thanks....

[skein]

Awww c'mon, Blubeast, a little blood spraying around is not gonna mess up your pretty pretty boat toooooo much. It'll make it seem like a.... well, like a VETERAN!

For you guys who haven't seen Blubeast's boat (really nice) that he stole from his neighbor, ask him to post a pic. It's a really nice looking ride.

Hmmmm... let's see, you say the neighbor now goes out in it more often than he did when he owned it, only now YOU are buying the insurance, and the jewelry, and doing the cleanup, and taking care of the storage.... Pretty smart guy, this neighbor of yours.

Skein

[blubeast]

Yea... very nice boat... and yes my neighbor is a smart guy... and yes I know he knows he's got the best of all worlds now when it comes to this boat...

After my first trip to the chicken ranch last week he's now talking about us chasing T U N A... so Skein... I asked these questions so I can be sure to equip it for his future trip.

It's especially nice that the tuna blood will match the boat's colors... great planning on his part. :smile:

[blubeast]

Thanks for the kind words about my boat Skein. Here's the pic you requested.

[skein]

Wow! That tuna blood is going to be a perfect match! Swwweeeettt!

Skein

[skein]

LOL! You make me look at my neighbors in a NEW LIGHT!

Your boat is gonna be a tuna-killing machine! HooooBoooy! I can't wait to hear the stories.



Skein