Before one filets a fish

[CreamyGoodness]

Last week my father in law caught two large bass, which I fileted and cooked the next day. Before making the fish into "fish" its necessary to do the unpleasant deed of sending him to the great beyond. I am hoping I did this as humanely as is humanly possible.

In the past I have given the fish a sharp blow to the head to kill them, but I found that the fish sometimes continued to move. Whether or not this was evidence of the fish still being alive is unclear. I have also used a sharp knife to cut the fish's spine just behind the head, but this is difficult with a wiggling fish.

F-I-L has been told by his neighbors that the easiest and most humane way to kill a fish is to wrap him in newspaper and put him in the fridge. Instead of a violent death, he "goes to sleep" and never wakes up. This is what we did. I have some misgivings about this, however. Is this truly a humane process? What makes me particularly uneasy is the disconnect between the death of the fish and the person who is causing it. I dont see the fish die, so the whole process is pretty sterile. Sterile killing makes ordinary men into monsters (just ask a history book, it'll tell you all about gas chambers).

Am I overthinking this?

 

[cheezydemon3]

Fish don't have feelings.....

 

[Hopper5000]

I would think that the fish would suffocate before it would go to sleep in the fridge. Whether or not that is mor humane than bashing it over the head is debatable. The bashing is the method I usually use

 

[cheezydemon3]

With lobster, it is generally accepted to split the head front to back. Bashing is probably best for fish.

 

[hillybilly]

Yes you are over thinking this become a vegetarian

 

[Hopper5000]

i thought with lobster it was acceptable to boil them alive...

 

[bob1852]

Yes you are over thinking this become a vegetarian

Or be humane and buy it from the store already dead.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

So, said Bass had their instinctive behavior taken advantage of when your FIL decided to present them a meal under false pretenses, which worked as it often does, only to leave them stunned by the fact that what they thought was a tastey morsel was in fact laced with steel and made of silicone jelly and then they were yanked violently from the depths by a string of wire pierced through their lip, or throat and raised from teh water to be thrown into a box.


And NOW you want to be humane?

 

[neo71665]

I just fillet the things. If they flopping around too much a knife in the head pinning them to the skinning table works fine.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

i thought with lobster it was acceptable to boil them alive...

Yes. They completely enjoy this as is evidenced by their splashing and screams of joy.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Or be humane and buy it from the store already dead.

This is actually a very good point. Living in New York I dont have much opportunity at all to hunt or fish for my own food. The meat and fish in the supermarket could have had any number of terrible things happen to it before it got in the packaging... I have to trust the FDA inspectors wouldnt allow undue/unnecessary suffering at the facility. It isnt optimal but it is what it is.

When I DO have some control over how the animal I am eating is treated before its passing, however, I feel as if I have a responsibility to take its suffering seriously. I also make it a point of using as much of the fish/animal as is possible (in this case I made fish stock from the heads and bones). I'm not preaching, its just how I choose to behave.

 

[hunter_le five]

I just pull 'em out of the water and let them suffocate. I don't imagine it's terribly painful.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

When I DO have some control over how the animal I am eating is treated before its passing, however, I feel as if I have a responsibility to take its suffering seriously. I also make it a point of using as much of the fish/animal as is possible (in this case I made fish stock from the heads and bones). I'm not preaching, its just how I choose to behave.

It is a humane condition.

As I don't recall the shark asking teh seal if his teeth caused any undue discomfort. Nor did the lion ask teh gazelle if had any trouble breathing as it ripped out it's throat.

Yep, only the humans are made to feel bad, by other humans, about self preservation.

 

[cfonnes]

Death is supposed to by violent and painful, it is one of the things that makes being alive better.

 

[smakudwn]

Wow I didn't know people bashed them on the head. I just pull them off the stringer and start going to town with the electric knife, they stop flopping eventually.

 

[kh54s10]

If you are concerned with ending the fish's life as quickly as possible cut through the backbone right behind the head. It will sever the spinal cord and kill them quickly. I don't know exactly where the brain is or how big but if you pierced that it would be quick. Even after that they will flop for a bit.

I usually just leave them out of the water until they die.

It is pretty nice being at the top of the food chain.

And who knows if plants feel being cut down.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

We always put them on ice in the cooler after catching them. By the time you get back to the dock to filet them they are basically comatose (they're cold blooded so without the heat from the water they basically go to sleep).
Then you can filet them to the point of cracking the spine behind the head before they would warm up enough to regain consciousness.

 

[Bensiff]

I find a .410 shotgun works quite well on large fish. One time my buddy pulled up a hallibut and his dad shot the fish, the eye popped out and stuck to his moms face, true story. So on the small scale maybe a .22 if you want insta-death. But, remember, even insta-death results in things kicking for a few moments so no matter how humane you are, you have to deal with that. My buddies family is a big traditional Mexican family so when we get together my buddy and I get put on goat duty, we pin the goat and slit its throat, it kicks for a few moments but they bleed out rapidly. Is it pleasant? Absolutely not, I hate taking life, but here is me being sexist, I think any man who eats meat and refuses to kill it himself because he doesn't want see something suffer or its unpleasant pretty pathetic, if you eat meat, you should understand exactly what that means and until you take a life you don't truly understand. Ok, now that I'm off my soap box, what I do with salmon is put them on a line in the water to stay alive until I am ready to kill them. I then cut their gills and put them back in the water where they bleed out very rapidly, once they aren't moving I gut them and take their head off which only takes a matter of seconds. That is humane for fish by my standards.

 

[Hopper5000]

one time i discested a fish and it's heart kept beating for like 20min after i took it out... zombie fish

 

[Subsailor]

With fish, I cut the gills and bleed them out as quickly as possible, then they go on ice. Sometime, the larger fish need to meet the priest (fish club) before you can cut them safely. As Bensiff stated, for the really large fish, a firearm may sometimes be needed and you will still have some thrashing. That is why it best to restrain your catch as best and as safely as possible (not always possible).

I understand and respect your empathy, Creamy. I believe that all things are connected and we need to show respect for those that die to support our continued existence.

That said, I want to dispatch any animal, fish or bird as quickly as possible.
1. It reduces any perceived suffering on their part.
2. It reduces any potential stress induced contamination of the finished product.
3. It is much easier to clean up if the dispatching is contained and controlled.

 

[headbanger]

I used to try and drown them but for some reason it seemed to take forever.

 

[TyTanium]

Give it to us raw and w-r-r-riggling.

The rock and pool, is nice and cool, so juicy sweet.
Our only wish to catch a fish, so juicy sweet.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

SubSailor nailed it.

All that time the fish was out of the water it was suffocating, building up lactic acid in it's muscle cells. And suffering...

If you catch a fish to keep for the table, cut a gill and throw it in a live well or ice water bucket. A few minutes pass, it bleeds out, and you have fresh cold dead fish ready to fillet and cook.

When humans bleed out they go numb, cold and "go to sleep". Same with fish, they feel (if they feel at all) the least pain and suffer the least. You are also left with the meat in the best condition possible.

 

[Yooper]

I know some of the responses aren't serious, but this one is! First, keep in mind that fish don't have brains (no neural cortex). They do have a brainstem/nerve stem that controls breathing and instinct. So they don't feel pain the way you do or suffer during being caught. They don't have the neurological ability to "feel".

I'm always considerate of any animal I consume, and would not cause it to suffer needlessly. But for fish, simply cleaning them works for me!

 

[neosapien]

I know some of the responses aren't serious, but this one is! First, keep in mind that fish don't have brains (no neural cortex). They do have a brainstem/nerve stem that controls breathing and instinct. So they don't feel pain the way you do or suffer during being caught. They don't have the neurological ability to "feel".

I'm always considerate of any animal I consume, and would not cause it to suffer needlessly. But for fish, simply cleaning them works for me!

huh. i learn something new every day!

 

[Yooper]

huh. i learn something new every day!

We have awesome dinner conversations around here! Being married to a wildlife biologist means taking frozen road-killed cranes to a taxidermist, looking for loon chicks on lakes (I'm actually the "loon ranger" on two lakes!), going out wolf howling (I kid you not), and having people bring all sorts of stuff over to the house to identify.

We've had people bring bugs in jars and dead mammals to our house, or sent photos via email, just so Bob could tell them what it is! It's awesome.

 

[JUST_BREW_IT]

With fish, I cut the gills and bleed them out as quickly as possible, then they go on ice. Sometime, the larger fish need to meet the priest (fish club) before you can cut them safely. As Bensiff stated, for the really large fish, a firearm may sometimes be needed and you will still have some thrashing. That is why it best to restrain your catch as best and as safely as possible (not always possible).

I understand and respect your empathy, Creamy. I believe that all things are connected and we need to show respect for those that die to support our continued existence.

That said, I want to dispatch any animal, fish or bird as quickly as possible.
1. It reduces any perceived suffering on their part.
2. It reduces any potential stress induced contamination of the finished product.
3. It is much easier to clean up if the dispatching is contained and controlled.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Also, if you are seriously that concerned then you may not be cut out to harvest God's creatures on a regular basis.

 

[Dolomieu]

I use to do a lot of fish sampling via electro-fishing and once you have you samples they must "calmed" down. We use the "priest" method. The death quiver is something you just get use to.

If you really want to put it to sleep, which seems odd. Put your fish in a bucket of water and toss in a schit ton of alka seltzer.

OR..... toss them in a keg and set the pressure to 30 psi. be sure to purge the keg of all life supporting O2! Then shake the schit out of it.

OR..... Take that shock collar off your dog, put it in the fish and shock the piss out of it. This will also produce a nice flaky filet, just peel the skin back, add a little lemon and eat.

 

[neosapien]

We have awesome dinner conversations around here! Being married to a wildlife biologist means taking frozen road-killed cranes to a taxidermist, looking for loon chicks on lakes (I'm actually the "loon ranger" on two lakes!), going out wolf howling (I kid you not), and having people bring all sorts of stuff over to the house to identify.

We've had people bring bugs in jars and dead mammals to our house, or sent photos via email, just so Bob could tell them what it is! It's awesome.

looking for loon(y) chicks...wolf howling...people bringing strange stuff over for identification...

that sounds a hell of a lot like HBT.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

OR..... toss them in a keg and set the pressure to 30 psi. be sure to purge the keg of all life supporting O2! Then shake the schit out of it.

He wants to eat the fish! Not fast carb it to 2.4 vols.

 

[bob1852]

He wants to eat the fish! Not fast carb it to 2.4 vols.

Depends; is this the lutefisk thread?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Depends; is this the lutefisk thread?

Depends, you wearing Red sneakers?

 

[westicle]

I like to clean them alive so I can watch those little hearts beat in my hand

 

[Bookworm]

When I lived in Florida and fished offshore I would throw them in an insulated well full of ice. Killed them quick and kept them fresh for the trip home. If it was a real bloody fish, like blue fish, I would cut its gills and bleed it over the side first.

For sick aquarium fish I throw them in ice water or give them an overdose of clove oil, both are fast.

 

[TxBrew]

Live and learn.

 

[glick]

I always cut the heads off first... the fish have never complained of this method causing them any pain.

 

[BigRob]

Usually stab a boning knife an inch into the flesh, right where the skull ends, then twist it, and remove. Usually twitches once or twice and lies still. Similar for lobsters, but with a cleaver or french knife, and bisect the head.

 

[CGVT]

[ame]http://youtu.be/H8Q_8DvipCA[/ame]

 

[cooldood]

I work for a fish farming company so dispatching fish is something I know about.
Wack between the eyes will kill the fish almost immediately
I f the eyes are dilated it is dead even though there is still some movement.

Many fish farmers use an ice slurry. The fish is put into very cold water and then after some time Cut the Gil's. the fish is in a stupor and will bleed out without thrashing around. And thus no bruising.

 

[Dolomieu]

He wants to eat the fish! Not fast carb it to 2.4 vols.

Don't knock it till you try it. I dry fished my last porter and everyone agreed that there was something unique about that beer. Everyone got so loaded they puked everywhere. I still have 3/4 of a keg left...not sure how that happens