Sharks

[Jim St.Pierre]

Hello All, A guy from Massachusettes Depertment of Fisheries, just tagged 5 Great Whites in Chatham (Stage Harbor and Monomy) The town closed the beaches over the Labor day weekend. He ran out of tags, there have been over 10 spotted. Guess where my boat in moored ???.....lol By the way Mako and Blue sharks are great eating.. Jim

[s/v Beth]

I realize this thread is drifting a bit- but how do you recongise a blue. We fish off the bottom for flounder and are always getting shark. Mostly dogfish, but would like to try a Blue if we get one. And yes, we always let the fish go alive we do not eat. (which have been all the shark so far)

[GordMay]

Blue Shark Identification
* Long slender body
* Dark blue colour on top, bright blue colour on the sides and white underneath
* Very long pectoral fins
* Nictitating membrane over eye

The blue shark has a distinct colouration, a deep indigo blue from above and a vibrant blue on its sides, changing to white underneath.
The blue is a long slender shark, reaching 13 feet (3.8 m) in length.
The large pectoral fins are easy to identify, as they are as long as the distance between the tip of the snout to the last gill slit.
The blue shark has a weak keel on the caudal peduncle and the upper lobe of the caudal fin is larger than the lower.
The teeth on both the lower and upper jaw have triangular cusps with smooth or finely serrated edges.
The blue shark occurs in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans in both inshore and offshore waters, from 50º N latitude to 50ºS latitude.

[s/v Beth]

Thanks Gordon, how do they taste?

[GordMay]

Unpleasant.
Sharks don’t have a “normal” urinary tract, and have to excrete their urine (urea) through their skin. This leaves an unpleasant “ammonia” taste, unless properly handled when caught (bleeding, skinning, icing etc). I’ve never been able to “properly” handle any shark meat, and don’t like it.

[Guard Bum]

The key to eating shark is take your meat while the shark is still alive. We always flank the animal while it is alive and feed all of his buddies still in the water the rest of the carcuss. Nothing goes to waste. Shark can be prepared many ways; we grill it, deep fry it, bake it etc... You might be surprised how much shark is out there in commercial establishments in seafood combo and salads. Shark meat is a good tasting, non fishy tasting, white meat. My favorite is beer battered and deep fried (This could explain my big gut and cholesteral).

[s/v Beth]

I'm afraid this is going the way of the Dungeness crab prep- split em open while alive and then put them in the pot. I can't see causing that much pain ( I'll just live with my veges till I get a flounder). I can't shoot my dog either- got to get my neighbor to do it.