first shark, need advice!

[HIGH_and_DRY]

caught my first bull in the logan today, and after despatching of it straight away, i slit its tail and threw him on ice. after a while, we went back to the ramp and filleted the fish and de-skinned it. the drama i have is that the fillets still smell of amonia. did i do anything wrong after i caught it, or are they still ok to eat?? Im giving them to my girlfriends family to eat, so i don't want to send to an early grave just yet!!!!

any help appreciated.
pete

[fishphile]

G'day Pete, I haven't had the chance to try these tips out yet but I always keep it just in case. Hope it helps mate.

Dave


Handling, Cleaning
Your Shark
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Any shark to be used as food should be cleaned immediately. If the blood is not drained from the system right away, the urea deteriorates into ammonia and results in the pungent odor and dry taste characteristic of poorly handled shark meat.

So, don't just throw your shark on ice at the dock like you would other fish. Instead, follow these tips for cleaning your shark:

After gutting, dunk the shark in water to wash out as much blood as possible


Put the shark on ice


At the dock, cut the shark's head all the way around and make a cut from the head to the tail on both the top and bottom sides


Using a pair of pliers in one hand and holding the head and tail in the other, skin the shark


Then cut the head and tail off, remove the underlying layer of dark meat, and cut the shark into filets


Wash thoroughly and package the shark for freezing or cooking as you would any other fish.
To further neutralize any residual ammonia, presoak the shark filets in an acidic solution such as lemon juice before cooking or freezing

[Punkin]

Eaten a few sharks, would NOT soak in lemon before cooking and espesially not before freezing. The amonnia smell goes after freezing and if there is still a whiff before cooking just cut into the sizes you want and a soak in milk for 10 minutes.

I usually lop the head and tail off at the side of the boat, drop the guts out and then throw on ice.
At the cleaning tables, fillet, skin and cut into pieces the size of a brick or a bit smaller (depending on size of family) bag in freezer bags then place a few in a large zip lock.
Tops crumbed and fried in small slices or thin slices on the bbq (tossed in seasoned flour) are a crowd pleaser too

[Grand_Marlin]

As Punkin said - freezing kills the amonia smell.

Cut into smaller fillets before freezing helps

Cheers

Pete

[HIGH_and_DRY]

thank you people!!!

i will give these methods a go...providing i catch any more sharks!!!

he didn't put up much of a fight, although i was using a 24kg backbone rod, tld 25 with 50lb braid!! (and the shark was only 78cm!!! ) bit over gunned, but you never know what your going to get down there!!!