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Eating wrasse

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Oldsarge said:
Wrasse are not a fish you will find on your fishmonger’s slab
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Saw one for sale on a fishmongers slab in Falmouth recently. £5 for a reasonably small one which I thought was a bit pricey.

I caught and ate my very first fish the other day and that was a wrasse. I make no apologies to anybody for taking it. The way I see it is that as a beginner taking a wrasse was as much of an achievement and enjoyment as a bass would be for a more experienced fisherman. The proof is in the amount of times I missed before I eventually caught one. The pleasure eating it was the same as well. Everything's relative.

As and when I have the knowledge and ability to catch other species, the need to shoot wrasse will diminish. I too hope to find myself in the position where I don't want to shoot them anymore because it's not enough of a challenge and I'd rather keep space in my bag for tastier fish. But that's not where I'm at right now. Far too much self rightiousness regarding this matter IMO.

Anyway, deep fried one side with a sweet tomato and chilli sauce (won't be deep frying the next one, went way too mushy!) and used the other fillet to make 3 massive fish cakes. (by me I mean the other half) It doesn't matter if the fish is mild IMO if it has a decent flavoured sauce.

 
Reactions: Lew21, chealy and Diving Gecko
I got two last week in Devon. They were eaten, dont see any problem whatsoever with taking them. Tasted a lot like tropical white reef fish to me. Not sure how big the big one was but it took up the whole baking tray and sink.

 
Reactions: Woohoo
They make great Sashimi. The Japanese rate them highly, and who can argue you with the Japanese when it comes to eating raw fish.
Recently I took some Sushi rice, seaweed sheets, soy sauce and wasabi to the beech with me, then went in specifically to catch a Wrasse. By the time I'd got my wetsuit off the misses had sushi rolls and Sashimi waiting for me. As fresh as it gets.
 
Reactions: Mr. X and Lew21
I'm not a fan of killing wrasse, the main concern (their cuteness and friendless aside) is that they're very easy to take and are territorial, so if they become the staple of the spearfishing community then they would be quickly be wiped out in some areas.
I've never killed or eaten one and was always told they weren't great eating, but I'll take your word for it.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
 
Reactions: Ed_G and foxfish
^ That's a fair point but It's so hypothetical I don't really see the logic. It's a fact of life that only a small percentage of people want to catch and eat them, so all the time it stays like that the numbers won't be affected. If in the very unlikely event that trend changed, then obviously people who do catch and eat them would have to re-evaluate their decision. Can't see that happening though.

If because they're so easy to catch too many are being caught, then that's on the unethical spearos that don't have the morals or self control to do the right thing. I personally wouldn't feel responsible for that or that I contributed in any way to their demise.
 
Everyone to there own, it is not illegal to kill wrasse and folk can decide about their own personal morals!
Wrasse are very slow growing and extreamly easy targets, like I say 'everyone to their own'.
As other ( in my mind) much more desirable targets, get more differcult to find, it is inevitable that wrasse will be hunted.
Certain fish are far more susceptible to overfishing by spearfishing than others, wrasse and congers are two such fish.
Big wrasse don't wonder far from thier independent territory, they are not free ranging pelagic fish so the big mature breeding fish are susceptible to overfishing.
Where I live, the wrasses main enemy is the gill netter, wrasse are number one potbait and they are heavily harvested.
Lovely placid creatures, I love to see them, not a fish I choose to hunt.
 
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Reactions: Mr. X and manalive!
foxfish said:
Where I live, the wrasses main enemy is the gill netter, wrasse are number one potbait and they are heavily harvested.
Lovely placid creatures, I love to see them, not a fish I choose to hunt.
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Probably common knowledge for others but I wasn’t aware of this. It would seem the Wrasse has for bigger things to worry about than being eaten raw by me a couple of times a year. It’s being caught commercially alive to clean parasites from farmed salmon.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ild-wrasse-at-risk--sea-lice-scotland-anglers
 
Reactions: Mr. X, foxfish and SubSub
I suppose a bio cleaning solution is the way to go for the salmon industry, but either way, I don’t think they run a sustainable business. It is quite francly shit, fishing out the oceans to make pellets / salmon food, applying tons of chemicals to the ocean to try to beat the pests. Just a total shit industry in my eyes and I try my best not to eat salmon in any greater extent.
 
Reactions: Corki, Mr. X and sewin
Subsub, you make several good points. A colleague told me that he only eats farmed fish. So often people try to do the right things only to find out later that they made things worse (e.g. diesel cars for air pollution, trans-fat filled margarine for heart disease, carbs to loose weight).
 
Wow, you're well prepared! Now that's the way to do spearfishing!

I've been tempted to eat bass raw but not wrasse (until now) although I do rate large wrasse as decent eating. I typically take just one a year, usually for a boullabaise. - although the really big ones can be cut into steaks like a salmon. They can be a bit of a pain to deal with as the bones of the big ones are thick and tough.

Ceviche is another interesting way to eat "raw" fish (I believe the outside is chemically cooked in the acid of the citrus fruit used). Haven't tried it yet but keen to give it a go.
 
Reactions: Woohoo
I know two wrongs don’t make a right, but I find it very hard to worry about the few I take each year all the time other people are allowed to take them by the thousand to make money. Even if I took 5 or 10 per year for my own personal consumption I would struggle to feel guilty about it.

Mr. X said:
I've been tempted to eat bass raw but not wrasse (until now)
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I haven’t tried bass yet either but I definitely will. Again one for the main white fish the Japanese use is a sea bass. Won’t be exactly the same as ours but I reckon ours would be just as nice.

Mr. X said:
Ceviche is another interesting way to eat "raw" fish (I believe the outside is chemically cooked in the acid of the citrus fruit used). Haven't tried it yet but keen to give it a go.
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Sounds amazing! Raw fish and citrus sound like they would be perfect together.
 
Although I did read an article recently about the various parasites in raw fish, which I tried to forget as quickly as I could.
All commercial fish for sushi is frozen first which seems like an almost guaranteed way to make it safe. Unfortunately the temperatures required are far lower than our domestic freezers go. Still, freezing it to any degree would have to be beneficial I would have thought.
 
Quick question regarding wrasse & this seemed as good a thread as any. I’ve recently been back in the sea after a break of two years and noticed a huge difference in the wrasse population. Firstly there seems so much more of them than I remember, and secondly they’ve all been on steroids!

I’ve never seen so many BIG wrasse in a single dive before. People used to say that one big ‘daddy’ wrasse would dominate his territory and what I used to see made that true. Now I see 3 or 4 big fish all swimming a few feet from each other, and then another 3 or 4 20 metres away, then another 2 or 3 10 metres from that etc. Big wrasse everywhere!

Anybody else noticed a change or am just remembering wrongly?
 
In general I think your memory is correct. One very big wrasse and lots of smaller wrasse of different sizes.

However, a few years ago in Cornwall I came across several very large wrasse, quite possibly UK spearing record-breaking, in one area. The biggest Ballan wrasse I have seen, before or since. Viewed from above, one looked like it had swallowed a house brick sideways ( ie similar size/ side profile as the others but at least twice as wide).

Wrasse are very common on reefs near shore. Even very big ones are common. Huge ones much less so.
 
Reactions: Woohoo
*
". Outstanding most any way you want to cook them
 
I quite like rass although its i s a mild flavor, my ip birthday wishes tneb boney and quite small flaky fillets. i just fry the skinned fillets in a bit of butter and finish with a sprinkle of salt. the one thing you MUST do is wash the slime off them as soon as they are dead otherwise it will taint the flesh.
 
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Having just witnessed no less than 7 spearos taking only Wrasse from Swanpool, Falmouth this Sunday I thought I would do a bit of checking as it was def frowned upon back in the day. Very few eating-sized fish around of any species unless venturing into deeper waters. Many years ago spearfishermen of the Med said they wouldn't take enough Groupers to affect their numbers. As territorial fish, it did not take long to wipe them out. They are seen now on marine reserves. I believe it will be the same if we start targeting the local Ballan Wrasse.
 
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