Clean your fish like a pro

A forum for people who are new to commercial fishing and for talking about the fundamental rules and regulations.
yak2you2
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Clean your fish like a pro

Post by yak2you2 »

Proper care of your troll caught salmon after you catch them is all important to maintaining the image of your fish as a healthy, high-end product.
proper care can start right at the gaff hook. If your fish is hook solidly and you've conked him/her a good one and your not otherwise under pressure, just slip the gaff up under the gill like you would your finger and hoist them aboard. A lot of times these fish will sell whole in the market, head on, if you don't have to put a big bullet hole in the side of their head, don't, it just makes them look that much nicer.
Start your cleaning procedure by bleeding your fish immediately as soon as it comes aboard. This can be done as simply as breaking a gill, but the best is to make a cut acrossed the gills on both sides.
Club it solidly a couple of times on the top of it's head, the more it flops, is more scale loss you have, and potential for bruising. Let it sit for a few minutes to make sure it doesn't wiggle while your cutting it.
Lay it belly up in your cleaning trough, sweep the sea lice off with the edge of your knife( usually found on both sides of the anus) as it is simple to do and makes the fish look much cleaner, then insert your knife a little way into the anus and make a straight cut right up to area in between the pectoral fins.
Next make a crescent shaped cut that removes the all the gill material, be careful when removing the gills to leave the little dibit attached at the throat. I see so many old-timers that cut this, leaving the whole head attached only by the back of it. Invariably the head will flop wide open when this dibit is cut causing bruising to the top of the fillets on the back, and/or tearing to the flesh on the inside of the fillet.
Make a clean circular cut around the top of the body cavity separating the esophagus from the top of the cavity. Gently remove the guts by pulling the mass down towards the anus, make sure ALL the guts are removed, especially the last little inch of the anus. There is a lining between the guts and the inner walls of the cavity called the viscera, make sure this has come out with the guts, it usually does, but not always.
Gently make a cut the whole length of the bloodline, which is located along the inside of the backbone, and scrap all the coagulated material out of the cavity. If you look closely at the very back of it above the anus, the bones get deeper for about the last 2 inches. Gently cut through these and scrape the blood from underneath, be very careful here as this is an easy place to screw up and cut to deep.
Be sure to scrape the sweet meats, which are two tiny strips of meat on either side of the backbone, located underneath where the gills used to be. Gently use your spoon to push the blood out of the veins along the inside of the ribcage,(this is another step that a lot of guys who should know better seem to overlook). Make sure that all the remaining gill matter has been removed.
Lastly, give your fish a good washdown and general overlook to make sure it's perfect, then into the ice. I prefer slush as floating them helps keep them from getting squished and getting the dimpled look that fish packed in ice can sometimes get, but icing them is the important thing. Pack the belly cavity with ice if your pacing them in ice.
Most importantly, always handle them with care, don't get to excited or in to big of a hurry and start tossing them around, they bruise easily and/or lose their scales making them a far less valuable product.
If you do have a fish with an obvious blemish, make sure you point it out to the buyer so it doesn't slip through the cracks and make one of our customers unhappy somewhere, it's not worth the couple of bucks you make by sneaking them through and lowering the image of our wild product.
Salty
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Salty »

What a wonderful primer. I think I will print it up for any new crew I might have in the future.

Here is what I would add to an already excellent primer that really doesn't need any addition.

The freezer boat fleet, namely Dan Falvey and his crew, have developed a new way of pressure bleeding all the blood out of the body cavities. Take a small pipette and insert it into your deck hose. Actually I put a y on my regular deck hose and insert a small hose into my regular one and then insert a pipette into it. Turn your water pressure on so it goes about two feet from the end of the pippette (SPC gives them to us). Perhaps I should take some pictures if anyone is interested. After you remove the gills insert the pipette on the end of your deck hose into the big blood vessel emerging from the kidney line underneath the stomach at the base of the neck. At first it might be hard to find but once you find it a few times you will easily locate it from then on. The freezer trollers cut the head off and then insert the flushing pipette.
The blood will start flowing freely from the heart area and from around the stomach. I barb my pipette so it will stay in place. If I am fishing herring I thread one herring while the water flushes the blood out of the blood vessels. When the water is running clear remove the pipette and finish cleaning the fish as per Yak's excellent instruction. You will notice that the veins on the abdominal walls are all totally flushed out.
The flushing takes from 20 to 60 seconds depending on the size of the fish and the water pressure.
Ocean Harvester
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Ocean Harvester »

SPC has a great video that shows the cleaning method using the pipette and the traditional way that Yak describes. Video is long as it goes through the proper care for dressing halibut, blackcod, and salmon along with a nice description of slush iceing. The pipette method is near the end.

http://www.spcsales.com/news_view.cfm?id=12
Last edited by Ocean Harvester on Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
cletelord
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by cletelord »

The freezer boat fleet system can be viewed on "youtube". If I remember right I found it under commercial salmon trolling.
mswkickdrum
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by mswkickdrum »

Thank you so much for posting this!!!
Yes, I can clean a fish, who can't?
But I was SO afraid to ask about how to
do it "right" in the context of doing
it "professionally" and in a way that
reflects the prime market position
of troll caught salmon. I can't tell
you how great it was to see this.

MSW
yak2you2
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by yak2you2 »

As an after though, I should have added one of the most important, and often overlooked steps. At the end of each day, get a half a bucket full of water, add a cup full of bleach, simple green for the eco-friendly, or some other type of disinfectant. Stir it up with you scrub brush, and clean everything that touches fish, i.e.- cleaning troughs, checkers, and knives. A hint- one spot that often gets forgotten about is the bottom of your cockpit roof. When your gettin' busy with it, blood likes to fly up and splatter this spot.
A fishes skin, like our own, is an excellent barrier against contaminants, but once you unzip them and flesh is exposed, you run the risk of getting green stuff on the wrong stuff, and that could be very, very bad!! One person gets sick, and it makes it to the news now-a-days, and will all be tied to the dock for a long, long time.
Besides, take some pride in your boat, you worked hard enough to get there, take care of it.
Bigwave jim
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Bigwave jim »

Excellent. I'm developing a test, which means my wife might have to practice, practice, practice.
yak2you2
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by yak2you2 »

Your wife cleans fish???
Lucky
my wife is good at changing the radio channel. :shock:
Salty
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Salty »

In my book there are two definitions for troll highliner:
1. Your wife has a good job with retirement and health insurance; and,
2. Your wife cleans your fish, threads your herring, and cleans your back deck.

I watched the Yakutat kids and you had two real tough ones Newlun? and your hwt. but unfortunately they just missed going to state.

Great tournament here and great staying with Wrangell troller, Tom Sims.
Bigwave jim
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Bigwave jim »

Sheeze Salty,

After all you where highliner of the year...does that mean you have two wives? they troll while you attend meetings?
Salty
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Salty »

I got weathered out of a meeting in Ketchikan I should be at today. Trying to get phone calls into the guys there. Battling for the troll share of our SE enhanced salmon.
About the highliner award. The first and most over riding feeling I and, according to Jerry Fraser at National Fisherman, most recipients get is how many fishermen are more deserving. I even suggested some others.
I am hoping we can turn that recognition into some more good political work for the industry. Thank you.
Couldn't do it without the support of my Sarah. Can't remember her ever complaining about my investment in conservation and fishery meetings. Whined a few times about the amount of football on the TV though.
Sarah Jordan gaffs a nice coho on a spoon.jpg
two meter troll
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by two meter troll »

one thing to add to this cleaning and keeping nice.

add some rock salt to your slush ice it will harden the skin just a bit and keep your scales on better.
its an old trick but sometimes folks forget.
Salty
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Salty »

Slush with salt water of course. Don't add the saltwater to your ice in the harbor or in front of the plant over the outfall. Wait until you are in clean water.
two meter troll
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by two meter troll »

Salty wrote:Slush with salt water of course. Don't add the saltwater to your ice in the harbor or in front of the plant over the outfall. Wait until you are in clean water.


thanks salty
somtimes I forget little bits like that.
farmed fish eater
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by farmed fish eater »

I think I will post this valuble info on my boat as a reminder to self that anyone can buy a permit but it takes good literature to be a pro. But you dont mention what the procedures were if you are in a hurry (big bite going on) do you stop to clean fish like a pro or catch what you can and catch up later sacrificing the integrity of the fish a little bit.Just curious I have never been in a bite that good myself but hear of them.
Salty
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Salty »

Great question.

There is no absolute rule on fish management during a bite and I have heard all kinds of stories. It is a big problem for most of the troll fleet because we get paid for production with no differentiation for price unless the fish are so bad they need to be # two. It is not a problem for some of us and the freezer boat fleet because we have made a decision that quality is # 1. More later, merry Christmas.
ata
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by ata »

While I'm sorry to say it's been awhile since I cleaned a fish, these posts are yet another example of why I'm so proud to represent this fleet. It's important to experiment with new ways of improving and maintaining quality onboard - and keep that cutting edge - obviously, you're on top of it! It's also essential that the fish you catch are treated like a precious food product all the way to our customer's plates. Industry should be diligent in that regard and ATA will call for that at every opportunity.

Happy Holidays!

Dale Kelley, ATA
Salty
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Salty »

Now that I am back from opening presents with my grandchildren I will finish this thought. Great to have Dale chime in.
Quality doesn't just happen during a big bite. It happens because, like the person who posed this great question, someone has thought about it and prepared for it. Preparation includes the way you have set up your cockpit, landing checkers, bleeding bins, cleaning station, and ice management. It also includes preparing your crew and whenever you anticipate a big bite (which is every July 1 and mid August opening for example) having experienced crew and enough of them. If you are going to have green crew, start fishing in June so by July 1 they aren't green anymore or pair experienced crew with new crew.
Quality starts with conking the fish in the water to minimize flopping and bruising on the deck. It includes gaffing the fish in the head rather than the body. It means that you never fling or throw a salmon over your shoulder back handed or fore handed over the rail, over the cockpit, over the gurdies into the checker on top of other salmon. I am so tired of seeing trollers commonly land salmon with a big heave and splat that I could puke. It makes me sick to see gurdies positioned so there is no way you can slip that fish over the rail into the checker. Flinging them on board bruises them, it contributes to gaping, it knocks scales off. Think slip the salmon over the rail. It will save your shoulders and improve the quality.
As soon as the fish is landed, we start the bleeding by raking the gills with the gaff. As soon as the line is out we stick them with a knife. We have special knifes for this because your cleaning knife should be saved for cleaning and is not the ideal shape for sticking. As soon as a side is run we clean the fish from that side if there is a bunch. If it is slow we will run all four lines and then clean the few we got. We run our gear at a fast rate with our gear setter system so it doesn't take long to go through four lines if they aren't loaded with fish.
If the lines are loading as we put them out we still clean all the fish from each side before we run them again. If there are three of us it means that sometimes all three of us will be cleaning even while the gear is loaded. This is especially frustrating when you are fishing 50 fathoms of wire and getting 2-3 kings and 5-10 coho a line. It seems to take forever to run a side and then clean the 20 or so fish before you can get back to that heavy again. But, if you make a decision to always decide in favor of quality then you take care of the ones on deck before you haul any more in.
There are a lot of ways to make cleaning fish both faster and ergonomic. Think about the flow of the fish, think about saving your body. I actually had an occupational/physical therapist come down to my boat and help me think about ways to save my shoulders. Set your cleaning stations up so you don't have to bend over to lift or clean fish. I have set up my system so that the vast majority of the time the fish slide directly from the cleaning trough to the slush ice bin. We are planning to improve that system again this spring.
Keep your knives sharp. We have several sets ready to go before an opening and it still seems like I am constantly sharpening knifes. Have lots of water for rinsing fish and washing down. I have three pumps and am going to add another one this spring.

So, you have set up your system, you are mostly prepared but you stumble out, like I did a couple of times, by yourself and you land right in the middle of a huge bite. The fish are loading as you put the gear out and you don't think the bite is going to last that long. I have watched some of the top highliners work and they have a rhythm of hauling, setting, and cleaning that is a thing of beauty to observe. That is what I recommend.
However, twice in my career I managed to end up on a big bite that I wasn't sure would end on very valuable winter kings. I saw the situation, 15 kings on two lines, and hammering again as I put them out. I was by myself and there were other boats to watch out for in addition to trying to running gear. Because I have cleaned hundreds of round Sitka Salmon Derby kings over the years I know that well bled slushed kings will be fine for hours. The only problem is how cold your hands get cleaning them. So, I just bled and slushed the kings. Over 100 of them looked great when I cleaned and delivered them.
One time, when my boys were at their peak, and when we had experience handling lots of pinks and chums every day, we managed to land on an incredible pile of cohos with very few other boats around. The first time we went through the gear (60 hooks) we had 51 coho on deck. The rhythm we worked out was one boy cleaning and slushing steady and the other boy and I running our sides and cleaning as fast as we could after running a side. It worked great and we ended up with our best coho day ever. But we were ready for it and had a plan.
Unfortunately I have been ready for the big production lots of times when it never materialized. But, just a couple of years ago we had an opening day with over 100 kings and 300 coho, and it seemed like we could have easily handled way more the way the system is set up now. A guy in my harbor had over 600 coho and 50 kings that day.

Lets hope we all have a day when we get to make the decision to keep the quality high regardless of how heavy they are biting.
two meter troll
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by two meter troll »

I agree with Salty.
Here’s a description of my usual methods:

The way I did it was pretty simple: I had a deep kill pen that I kept about 10 inches deep in water and heavy slush ice. That kill pen was 4'X4'X12" deep with holes cut at deck level (plugged) and ten inches (open).
I bleed my fish as soon as I get them aboard (just pop a gill) and set into the pen. You will need to adjust the slush till the fish can stay upright and not on the side. Upright fish don’t flop or bruise, nor do they lose scales in the slush. I would run a line and clean a couple, run another line and clean a couple, and so on.
I also keep some plastic 3/4 drums slushed and I run a bit of air to make small bubbles so I can transfer cleaned fish from the kill pen. I add a cup or so of brine to the mix to keep the fish shiny. Down here in Oregon we have had to produce the best product possible for 15 years - we haven’t had the quantities that Alaska does, so we have to go for quality. For the 5 of those 15 that I fished, I got 20 cents more than other folks cause all my fish were “display quality.”

The key is to get the fish off the line and into a place it won’t knock scales off as fast as possible. As you clean make sure of no misscuts, get them packed in slush, and if possible firm up the slush a little as each layer of fish goes in. Don’t squash the fish in the hold; you want it to look like it is still in the round when you deliver. The colder you keep the slush, the less enzyme action you will get in the muscle, and the better the fish will look.

(I like to think of each fish as a gift that I'm going to give the customer - it keeps me focused on presentation quality as well as the taste and texture. If you have young kids on your boat who don't care for fish in the first place, maybe telling them to think about giving their fish to Mom or Grandma - or that cute girl at the steakhouse - could help them focus on it.)

I also drain the kill pen often so I don’t have blood in it for very long.

On the other end of this is: clean the fish handling area of the boat very well every day. Quality is king for troll-caught salmon. As a cook, I can tell you nothing has better presentation than a well-cared-for salmon. As a fisherman, I believe that if we could get the customer to demand nothing less than troll caught, we’d have a lot better fishery and a better living.
Salty
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Re: Clean your fish like a pro

Post by Salty »

Wow, two meter. Well said, thank you.
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