EATTING MARLIN OR NOT ??????

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

slyham- if you plan on eating one next time i hope you never hook one again.

tut, tut, tut


so its ok to torture but not to eat ?

Its also ok to take commercial & personal gain from the torture of a magnificant animal stir stir stir

Is your stance Jeffo to protect a tourist industy ? That would be ok.

Of the fish in the sea snapper and trout are in greater danger from line fishing. "Swordfish" have huge birth rates & phenonomally high growth rates. They are hit hard by uncontrolled targeting by long liners but are still ok. (thats not to say its ok).

They ARE good eating - but you wouldn't pick it looking at the flesh raw - it looks red & full of sinew like a really poor quality scotch fillet.

When cooked it turns white & the sinew vanishes leaves a firm fine textured white flesh with a delicate taste. The sinew disappears into the flesh as barely detectable jelly like moisture. There are better fish though - they really do lack flavour.

I have tried it once when a mate bought some up from Bermagui (?).

I don't/won't target them though.

I fish to catch fish to eat & would prefer to leave those beasts to themselves (& Jeffo stir stir stir

[stonecold]

Not a hard decision here. Brother in law and I spend months and thousands of dollars on fuel and equipement chasing and eventually catching our first billfish. A little black of about 30kg. 2nm directly off 40 at Evans Head. Being our first and having been told they were a fair chew we kept him for the BBQ. After going to all the trouble of first catching then caring for and preparing him for the BBQ I would have to agree with Billo and say it was the equivalent to having a freezer full of mullet.
I rekon If we had of spent our time and money targeting snapper, jew or pearlies we definately would have had a much better feed, but not quite the same adrenalin rush as seeing that beak break the surface.

[Heath]

You on your high horse Jeffo ?

I've kept 2 and their eating quality is nothing to rave about IMO.

The bycatch you get with Marlin fishing such as Mahi Mahi & Wahoo are much much better for the table.

[Mad_Barry]

It's almost a funny reaction when people mention eating a marlin

One of the most sought after eating fish up north here is the coral trout. They get raped & pillaged by rec's & pro's alike. Yet no one bats an eyelid at taking one home. Even look at the humble old bream. some reports say they are 10 to 15 yo at 30 to 35 cm. No one bats an eyelid taking them home either. But mention a marlin and heaps of people choose to only look out of one eye. Why are some fish more equal than others when it comes to getting there throat cut ?

Anyway, they're safe in my book, have only caught one, & let it go. A mate bought one home a few mths ago, he always lets 'em go. This one wouldn't swim off and knowing him, he would have tried for far longer than most people to revive it. He dropped over a few fillets for me. It tasted like crap. Maybe this was because it wasn't exactly prepared well & bled immediately as you normally would for a table fish, I don't know if trying to revive it for so long reduced it's eating quality, or this was just how they are.

[slyham775]

JEFFO Well it was only a lucky hook up so i might ne lucky again later on ... so i have a lucky charm with me not you worry about it JEFFO i bet you will try it one day i bet othere would agree....

[mackmauler]

Dicko, you have really answered your own question, why kill a fish that tastes like crap?

the simple difference between trout and marlin is nature intended far more trout that marlin its just the way the food chain is.

check the results from smithys fishn report from the breaksea spit one of the best marlin grounds in the world, 20 boats managed 2 marlin in 2-3 days, thats a lot of water to plough.

[the_real_fishcrazy]

Mackmauler hit the nail on the head, Marlin are far higher in the food chain, and thus more vulnerable (pruely from a numbers point of view), than those vermin (lol!) reef trout.
Chris re: the swordfish, they may be fast growing as you have mentioned, but I am pretty sure that fishery is believed to be near its sustainable limit (not 100% would have to check). Take a look at the sword fishery in the Atlantic and see what the pros have done there.
Having read a recent report on the ETBF Striped Marlin Fishery one thing in particular stood out to me. Those conducting the study considered striped marlin to be worth (off the top of my head) $30 a kilo to the recreational angler vs $4 or 5 a kilo to the pros. Now the commercial fishery has been very small (though growing), in comparison to the recreational sector which generates big dollars in tourism etc etc as a result of rec anglers chasing these fish. Put simply these fish are worth far more alive than dead, today and in the future.

[jeffo]

no point arguing, this battle has been fought thousands of times and never won.

[DICER]

slice, dice and smoke

they taste good whole

or as japanese sashimi

[nils_desporandum]

your average consumer couldnt pick between mackerel,wahoo,sailfish & marlin
yes but if you dont want to eat it leave it alone
sick of seeing bleeding,sick,stressed fish released to the sharks in the name of "sport"

[krause69]

well mate my old focks ate black marlin at Vanatu and it was smoked and they said it was some of the best fish they had eaten cheers krause

[Duyz72]

Although it seems to be a contentious topic it is simple enough to say that each to their own.
Consider some of the things human beings have eaten in this world, insects, worms, cats, rats, dogs and still do! Just because one society has placed an emotional value to these animals, why should they all?
So it is easy to imagine eating whale, turtle, oysters (imagine how desperate the first person to eat oyster was?).
So a marlin would have been a feast for any tribe at any time!
If I was going to cook a Marlin, I would go ahead and cook it Islander style.

[slyham775]

Give me some tip how to cook those marlin .... some ppl say,s smoke them i have,t try them yet.... how about you guy,s give me some advice,s ????