Cleaning Sharks

Was talking to friend of mine not so long ago when the subject of him catching sharks (Gummy's & Whalers) came up. He told me briefly how he processes the sharks after catching them, i.e cuting of fins/tail etc. He did mention also that he uses his high pressure hose (on boat) to as he said, "blow the backbone out of them." I have never heard of this approach before and was wondering if any members have or done the same thing. Im interested in any feedback and opinions on this, I had a fish burger some time ago with a whaler fillet (That's whaler, not whale!!) in it and was surprised how nice it was. I am assuming it tasted good because of how it was processed.        


HuggyB's picture

Posts: 2515

Date Joined: 03/08/08

for sharks

Sun, 2009-10-11 19:28

bleed them straight away and bleed them good. Otherwise you'll taint the flesh (on more occassions than not) with an ammonia taste/smell.

 

It cant hurt to cut the fins etc off as well. Make sure you put it on ice and fillet it as soon as humanly possible - cutting any dark red off the fillets.

 

An old timer reckons you should always freeze shark before eating it, never eat it fresh. Reckons it gets rid of any residual ammonia smell/taste.

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mako magic's picture

Posts: 5785

Date Joined: 03/08/05

pretty much 2nd that, i

Sun, 2009-10-11 20:00

pretty much 2nd that, i never eat it fresh that first night, i prefer to freeze it for atleast a couple of weeks before i eat it, and it always come out so nice in a light beer batter

Feral's picture

Posts: 1508

Date Joined: 01/11/06

when first caught the fins

Sun, 2009-10-11 19:32

when first caught the fins and tail need to be removed along with the head and guts .. when you remove the stomach you will find a line of red stuff (kidney from memory ) covering the spinal cord all the way to the bum .. this needs to be removed completly (easy as you just rub the back of the knife along each side and pull it out) right at the base of this will be a hole that runs the entire lenth of the sharks spine to the tail ... just pour water into that little hole and youll see blood coming out of the tail ... all done ... for the best taste leave the shark in this trunked state on ice for 2 days before filleting (not often possible) as with all fish it needs to be chilled straight away

Posts: 3246

Date Joined: 15/08/09

Thanks Huggy & Feral

Sun, 2009-10-11 19:38

Great info, like I said b4 I was surprised how nice the whaler tasted, it was very very nice..

Posts: 3246

Date Joined: 15/08/09

Feral do I understand right

Sun, 2009-10-11 19:41

The little hole your referring to is at the tail end of the gut cavity,  or is it up near the head. Thanks again mate

HuggyB's picture

Posts: 2515

Date Joined: 03/08/08

it runs

Sun, 2009-10-11 19:43

from head to tail. It will "reveal" itself when you remove the red flesh Feral alluded to.

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Posts: 3246

Date Joined: 15/08/09

Thanks mate

Sun, 2009-10-11 19:46

Just read Feral's post properly this time. 

Feral's picture

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Date Joined: 01/11/06

yeah sorry paully  ... i

Sun, 2009-10-11 19:58

yeah sorry paully  ... i never was very good at explaining things ...

Brutas's picture

Posts: 47

Date Joined: 27/03/09

After filleting put in

Sun, 2009-10-11 20:41

After filleting put in fridge in a bowl of water over night  that way the ammonia taste/smell

carnarvonite's picture

Posts: 8673

Date Joined: 24/07/07

Bleed

Sun, 2009-10-11 20:49

To bleed a shark just cut the tail off.Comes out like a water pistol.
There is no need to cut the fins off straight away,the pectorals make a usefull handle when cutting up the rear gill passage while cleaning.
To clean a shark
Grab a fin,with the back towards you, and lift the shark up slightly cutting towards the head up the rearest gill passage and continue cutting up into the head.Repeat on other side joining up with the cut on the belly,cut across the back of the head stopping just after you have gone through the spine.Stick your knife in to its vent and open the belly up.Grab the back of the head and push it forward and down towards the belly/vent.With a bit of luck all the innards should all come out in one piece,head and all.Clean out all the brown stuff down along the spine and make sure to flush the little hole that Feral mentioned.
I'm a bit out of practice now but used to be able to clean and remove the spine from a shark in around 90 seconds,but when you have done literally thousands of the for a living one would expect to be quick at it

Posts: 3246

Date Joined: 15/08/09

Thanks for the info Carnarvonite

Mon, 2009-10-12 10:42

All good, appreciate your advice as with the other members.