Fish Handling: Keep it Wicked Cool!

The most important step to maintaining the quality and freshness of a Bluefin Tuna is bringing down its core temperature as quickly as possible.

The first step is to swim the fish!

Swimming the fish for 45 minutes allows the fish to calm down after fighting the rod and reel.

Lactic acid levels decrease as the fish calms, preventing damage to the fish that can occur with lactic acid buildup, called yaki, or “burnt” fish.

As water passes through the mouth and gills, the core body temperature also decreases.

When using a harpoon, try to avoid the belly of the fish. Harpoon damage will decrease the value of your fish.

See images quality fish and of fish with harpoon damage.

Always measure the fish.

As required by NOAA, we cannot accept bluefin tuna less than 73 inches long.

Once the fish has been gently brought onboard the boat, the next step is to bleed the fish.

To bleed the fish make a small 1” incision below the pectoral fin at the lateral line. Then make a second slice at the second finlet up from the tail. This will help to get as much blood as possible out of the fish.

Next, immediately gill and gut the fish using a sharp knife.

The fish must be shielded from the sun, and it’s skin kept moist.

This can be accomplished by covering the skin with a wet towel or blanket. Check every half hour to make sure that the cloth covering the fish remains wet. If you choose to use green paper it is very important that the paper is wet prior to being applied to the fish, and monitored to ensure that it remains wet.

Place the fish in a tuna bag with enough ice to cover the fish entirely. Mixing some salt water with the ice to create a slurry will cool the fish more efficiently.

Ice is very important and it is necessary to prevent histamine formation which can lead to a serious allergic reaction, and possible anaphylaxis (a life threatening reaction), in consumers.

Per HACCP regulations, Compass Seafood may only accept fish that has adequate ice.

Once you catch a fish, notify Compass Seafood as soon as possible by calling or texting:

(401) 787-4686.

The sooner we hear from you, the quicker we can create a plan to service your tuna!

We will need to know the length of the fish, the location to which you will be bringing the fish, and the estimated time of arrival.