9781422273180

Please Don’t Let the Fish Suffer! If you brought your fish home alive, the most humane thing to do is to kill the fish quickly, so they don’t suffer. At fish farms and fishing ranches, I’ve seen anglers proceed to gut the fish while it's still alive, which I consider a very cruel thing to do to a living creature. If the fish is giving up its life so you can eat, please grant it a quick and relatively painless death. Some anglers stun the fish with a quick, hard blow to the head in the area right above the eyes to render the creature unconscious. The first blow is quickly followed by another blow to kill the fish. Other anglers use an ice pick or another sharp instrument and drive it quickly into the brain of the fish, killing it instantly. Any of the above methods are more humane than gutting the fish alive. After you have killed the fish humanely, you can clean it on-site and pack the fish in ice, or you can take the fish home in a container of water and kill it and clean it there. Cleaning the Fish You’re home from your fishing trip with your catch. Now it’s time to transform those fish into a tasty meal for you, your family, and your friends. The first step is to clean the fish and prepare them for cooking. Use the following procedure as a guide: • Gather a cutting board, knives for scaling and gutting the fish, and disposable gloves. • Use old newspapers or freezer paper to collect the fish scales.

Transporting and Cleaning Your Catch

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