07-27-2016, 07:14 PM
By David Andrews
Fishing Ft. Pierce inside the Indian River, sucks right now. The grass flats are dead and are now mud flats. The bait is gone, and so are the fish. One exception is sharks. Where we used to see one occasionally, they are everywhere now.
We can cry about that or we can do something about it. One thing would be to join or add to the protests about the farm run-off and Lake O draining into the Indian River and the other thing we can do right now is to learn about sharks, fish for them, and eat them (before they eat us?).
A shark is a fish. Most people do not think of them that way, so I have to say that. Virtually all fish are good to eat, and people do not think about sharks as food (well, lots of people). To make a shark good to eat, there are just a couple of things you have to be aware of.
1. Sharks do not process liquids like most mammals (or most other fish), so the meat will have a lot of acid in it. First you should bleed the shark after you catch it. It is better but it does not have to be done right away (like you would do if you want to keep "Bonita"), but it should be bled. Next, when you prepare the meat, either cut across for steaks or along the sides for fillets. You should put the fillets or steaks in plain tap water for 8 or so hours (or overnight), changing the water a couple of times. No vinegar, no salt, no milk, just plain old tap water works just as well and maybe even better. This take the acid out and leaves you with some really good meat. The commercial guys will bleed a big shark, hanging it up by it's tail for days, and this seems to work for them without the water part.
2. Different sharks have different flavors. That's right; sharks do not all taste the same. Mako shark really tastes like Swordfish and it used to be that Swordfish steaks on menus across the country were all Mako Shark. When laws were enforced for "Truth in Advertising", Swordfish steak disappeared from restaurant menus and a lot of shark fishermen were put out of work. Thresher shark can have a taste very much like, and has a texture like, beef steak. One shark (Lemon) is no longer allowed to be kept but it is one of those things that really does taste like chicken - really. All the sharks are different and good, even Stingrays (ever order Scallops in a restaurant and they were really big? Yeah, Stingray wings cut with a cookie cutter).
3. This started because of the water quality and Shark problem in Ft. Pierce, but there are a lot of Spinners, Black Tips, and other sharks here in the ocean around the Kingfish Hole (Peck's Lake) and off the Palm Beaches.
Daily Recreational Bag Limit for sharks:
1 per harvester or 2 per vessel per day, whichever is less.
The retainable sharks are managed as a group for bag limit purposes. In other words, you can only harvest one shark per day and the shark that you harvest must be one of the retainable species.
Hook-and-line gear only.
See list of prohibited species below.
![[Image: event_440062345.jpeg]](http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/7/4/9/event_440062345.jpeg)
![[Image: event_440062344.jpeg]](http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/7/4/8/event_440062344.jpeg)
Prohibited Species
It is unlawful to harvest, possess, land, purchase, sell or exchange the following sharks:
Lemon Shark, Tiger Shark, Great Hammerhead Shark, White Shark, Caribbean Reef Shark, Whale Shark, Scalloped or Smooth Hammerhead Shark, Atlantic Angel Shark, Basking Shark, Bigeye Sand Tiger Shark, Bigeye Sixgill Shark, Bigeye Thresher Shark, Bignose Shark, Caribbean Sharpnose Shark, Dusky Shark, Galapagos Shark, Longfin Mako Shark, Narrowtooth Shark, Night Shark, Silky Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Sandbar Shark, Sevengill Shark, Sixgill Shark, Smalltail Shark, Spiny Dogfish, Manta Ray, Devil Ray, or Spotted Eagle Ray.
Want to fish for sharks? It is great fun and can be very rewarding, but learn about them so you stay out of trouble. OK? And yes, I have caught and eaten fresh shark(s). If you have not, you really should try them.
Fishing Ft. Pierce inside the Indian River, sucks right now. The grass flats are dead and are now mud flats. The bait is gone, and so are the fish. One exception is sharks. Where we used to see one occasionally, they are everywhere now.
We can cry about that or we can do something about it. One thing would be to join or add to the protests about the farm run-off and Lake O draining into the Indian River and the other thing we can do right now is to learn about sharks, fish for them, and eat them (before they eat us?).
A shark is a fish. Most people do not think of them that way, so I have to say that. Virtually all fish are good to eat, and people do not think about sharks as food (well, lots of people). To make a shark good to eat, there are just a couple of things you have to be aware of.
1. Sharks do not process liquids like most mammals (or most other fish), so the meat will have a lot of acid in it. First you should bleed the shark after you catch it. It is better but it does not have to be done right away (like you would do if you want to keep "Bonita"), but it should be bled. Next, when you prepare the meat, either cut across for steaks or along the sides for fillets. You should put the fillets or steaks in plain tap water for 8 or so hours (or overnight), changing the water a couple of times. No vinegar, no salt, no milk, just plain old tap water works just as well and maybe even better. This take the acid out and leaves you with some really good meat. The commercial guys will bleed a big shark, hanging it up by it's tail for days, and this seems to work for them without the water part.
2. Different sharks have different flavors. That's right; sharks do not all taste the same. Mako shark really tastes like Swordfish and it used to be that Swordfish steaks on menus across the country were all Mako Shark. When laws were enforced for "Truth in Advertising", Swordfish steak disappeared from restaurant menus and a lot of shark fishermen were put out of work. Thresher shark can have a taste very much like, and has a texture like, beef steak. One shark (Lemon) is no longer allowed to be kept but it is one of those things that really does taste like chicken - really. All the sharks are different and good, even Stingrays (ever order Scallops in a restaurant and they were really big? Yeah, Stingray wings cut with a cookie cutter).
3. This started because of the water quality and Shark problem in Ft. Pierce, but there are a lot of Spinners, Black Tips, and other sharks here in the ocean around the Kingfish Hole (Peck's Lake) and off the Palm Beaches.
Daily Recreational Bag Limit for sharks:
1 per harvester or 2 per vessel per day, whichever is less.
The retainable sharks are managed as a group for bag limit purposes. In other words, you can only harvest one shark per day and the shark that you harvest must be one of the retainable species.
Hook-and-line gear only.
See list of prohibited species below.
Prohibited Species
It is unlawful to harvest, possess, land, purchase, sell or exchange the following sharks:
Lemon Shark, Tiger Shark, Great Hammerhead Shark, White Shark, Caribbean Reef Shark, Whale Shark, Scalloped or Smooth Hammerhead Shark, Atlantic Angel Shark, Basking Shark, Bigeye Sand Tiger Shark, Bigeye Sixgill Shark, Bigeye Thresher Shark, Bignose Shark, Caribbean Sharpnose Shark, Dusky Shark, Galapagos Shark, Longfin Mako Shark, Narrowtooth Shark, Night Shark, Silky Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Sandbar Shark, Sevengill Shark, Sixgill Shark, Smalltail Shark, Spiny Dogfish, Manta Ray, Devil Ray, or Spotted Eagle Ray.
Want to fish for sharks? It is great fun and can be very rewarding, but learn about them so you stay out of trouble. OK? And yes, I have caught and eaten fresh shark(s). If you have not, you really should try them.