Angler #1

Mikey all good points. What is the cause of fish handlers decease. Is that not a bacteria on the outside of the fish ? At least that is what I was thinking about ? Understanding the parasite from the seals that get into some species of fish is a rather scary thing as well. When we once did a lot of shore cod fishing in another time, we were forced as some time of the year to candle every fish as the flesh contained many ring worms that no one wanted to eat .Yet folks have no idea that the sword fish with all of those circles in the flesh once held a living worm and love the meat once cooked. You should be into some fish my friend. Think DEAP

To think that bleach is used in such high concentration like that is mind boggling, but it is how it is done unfortunately

Bob one can have debates among the scholars to bring about informative information that allows those who look in an opportunity to learn from the debates . Agreeing or not agreeing with each other does not preclude the opportunity for those looking in to determine the best way they might find a particular process to work . The cleaning of fish is a very important subject matter and how it is done can be the difference between how well the fillets or whole fish you put away will be upon the time you prepare them to eat after they are frozen or not. it would be a waste of good fish to not fillet them to the best process that they know and freeze them only to thaw them out in the fridge later on and have a deteriorated food product because we did not take care of it properly. That includes how to vacuum pack and freeze the meat at . The lower[ mine is set for zero] for example one can obtain the freezer to maintain itself and the quicker it freezes , locks in for the most part the flavors of the fish for a good part of a year. Conversely allowing the fillet to freeze at a higher temperature below 32 the meat will not last as long or taste that good when unfrozen in my opinion. We use the same philosophy when freezing whole bait that some tackle shops use and that is never place unfrozen fillets on top of each other when freezing without a layer of frozen in between. It can make all the difference in the world

Cross contamination can come from just the process of cutting the fish , that is why all of my knives are sterilized before and after each fish. I do not use the same knife that i made the head or start cuts that i do when I fillet the meat part. When you generally make the head cut you cut through the area that will contain bacteria on it and if you use the same knife with out cleaning it to make the meat cut you cross contaminate and spread any bacteria you may have picked up on that knife cut to the whole fillet.. It is not so bad on a round fish, but a flat one it is even more important.

Joe I can tell you from personal observations that in some cases it is for both, rather sad to say the least.

Joe I have one person I know that will keep his catch for up to two days on Ice before filleting them . No blood at all , but increased levels of slime on the skin at times. making it imperative to follow strict sanitation protocol . To each his own I will agree that once the fish firms up it is also much easier to fillet as well as not have a lot of blood to be cleaned off. That is another reason to have good sanitation practices for this is where I believe more contamination comes from rather then using cold water flushing on them .

What if they went through a filtering system ?

Snag what we once did was use a stainless steel square container . mix in some salt Kosher with the water and place in the freezer until solid and then find a plastic bag to place it in and keep freezing until we had the space in the freezer filled. The salt in the water helped to make it last longer once out of the freezer as well . Try it and let us know how you did.

Rob any fish house that I ever been in to watch them cutting fish all has similar washing stations to clean the fillets once cut/ Power cold water before packing them away for the counter with ice on the bottom . The ones in Boston might have been using recycled salt water stations ? I never gave that a thought at the time? But it may have been possible. You are correct one can wash the flaver right out of the flesh. I still believe from my experiences cold fresh water cleansing of the fillets is better then leaving the juices from the cutting process on the fish .

I can see we may have a difference in opinions to use cold fresh water or not once we completed the process of filleting our fish. If we can agree that it is difficult to fillet any fish without blood on the meat or perhaps even the juices from the process of cutting the fish being on the meat ? How does one preclude having nice clean fillets with no blood, fluids from the fish still attached to the meat? Blood contamination and also fish fluids left on the meat would be a serious health consideration for me and I would like to know the secret that gives you a nice clean fillet that is free of potential bacteria with out some flushing of these elements from the meat itself.?

JTR you have the right idea in regards to the bleeding , / If the fish are kept on ice and allowed to get cold enough to let mortise before filleting you will have less chance of having blood all over the fillets and use less water to clean them up. Say what you want in regards to washing the fillets with fresh water, most places use high pressure fresh water washes and I have personally used and have never ever had any problems with the quality of the fillet fresh eaten or quick frozen and vacuum packed. . The key for me has always been to make sure that every thing you use from the fillet table, knife, and colanders are sterilized with a bleach spray . Including my special woven glove to prevent cuts and hands. That way you have no cross contamination from one to another item in the process. Also the water must be also cold as you can get it. Once the fillets are placed in the colanders they are washed[if you can get salt water that is great, but in all on my years cutting fish and thousands of pounds of different species I have never had one incident with any kind of bacteria contamination. The fillets go into the fridge right away and once they stop dripping I use fresh paper towels to absorb any moisture left. The dried fillets are then placed in the freezer for a short period of time to allow the vacuum pack to do its thing for those we freeze and for those we will eat that night simply placed on a dry dish with paper towels, covered with wrap and prepared at supper time for eating . The key for me has always been using the bleach mixture[One part bleach for 10 parts water] to prevent cross contamination from any bacteria you may have picked up and assuring that fillets or whole fish ever get warmed up to a point where one also needs to be concerned about any bacteria in the first place. If you are using fresh cold water and follow good sanitary fillet procedures and then assuring that the meet remains cold and dry , I do not believe you will ever have any problem with freshness. later on down the road when you take it out of the freezer and let it thaw out in the fridge before cooking. Just one mans opinion from following what I learned many years ago from those in the field of supplying fish for eating.

A single animal among the wilderness of life looking for a companion to strut around with. Non the less a nice site to see one in search of a soul mate, that may never occur unfortunately.

Nice to see some with an appreciation of the fine arts in music . I can see a some of the joys requirement in both and that is what patients and putting in the time teaches you to become better at what you do. Nice attributes to carry it onward and forward.

Do you really play that thing ? I can see where it might not have given you a fight , but then again that's a great catch

The only thing we found while in Sardinia were Sardines , that was back in the late 50's