Cooking Blacktip Shark

[cudagreg]

Most of this info is spot on. I work at a high end restaurant and we get your fish directly from longlining boats. Every once and a while they will bring us a mako or blacktip since they mainly target snapper and grouper they dont catch them often. The main this is YES bleed it out and remove the entrails immediately. Shark can get ripe fast. If properly handled the meat can last a good week without freezing. I've only every see the chef cut thick steaks and grill it. Don't cook it past medium though unless you like chewing on leather. Just my 2cents

[DX2]

I usually keep em' if there in the 2'-3' range.. I don't keep anything over that... I gut em' immediately. I mean, hook em', reel em' in and take them right to the cutting board.. IMMEDIATELY.... I cut/fillet the meat inside-out (I don't make shark steaks), sprinkle on some Tony's... Wrap in saran wrap and drop in the cooler or fridge for about an hour... Then I grill it... mmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmm G-O-O-D.

You don't use Barnacle Dust?

[Kayak Kid]

If you must eat shark, and, I warn you that sharks know which of us eat them and which of us don't, then do the following:

After gutting, bleeding, and icing down, for at least 12 hours, cut into 1 1/2 inch thick steaks. Place these steaks into a milk, garlic, pepper (lots of garlic powder and pepper) mixture and place into the frig for at least another 12 hours.

Remove the steaks from frig and bring to room temp. Hand rub the steak with virgin olive oil.

Season steaks generously with salt, pepper , and garlic salt. Heat up a large fry pan.......,really hot, and cover the bottom with a mixture of peanut oil and virgin olive oil.

Lay the shark steaks into the fry pan and sauté for two minutes on each side. When done, place the steaks onto a plate and put one pat of butter onto the top of each steak. Sprinkle each steak with a sprinkle of well chopped chive or parsley.

Enjoy!

[RedWolf]

Walker's post is pretty much spot on. I will keep an occaisional blacktip under 5' for eating also. Cut the tail immediately while it is still alive so the heart will pump out most of the blood, I usually try to hang them in the air during this process so gravity helps out the process. I'll let them hang for about 20 minutes or so for the blood to drain, then gut them. I start at the anal fissure and cut straight up towards the head.

Run your knife over a hone frequently while doing this, shark skin is EXTREMELY tough and will dull a blade in no time. With a boning type knife, cut down the "backbone" (actually little more than a long piece of cartilage running down the body) just as you would filleting any other fish. You should now have 2 halves, cut out the cartilage from whichever half it ended up in, then skin it out and cut into steaks. If they are to thick, butterfly them or or fillet them in half. We like our shark fried, any good batter recipe will work.

[clebba]

My question is how do you do all this in a kayak? If you cut the tail and bleed it out, won't that attract more sharks? What's the best way to dispatch the shark and bring it on board to gut it?

[BeachAggie]

I'll try to keep this as short as possible. All fish, including sharks, have nitrogenous waste. This breaks down further into ammonia. The ammonia is the main reason the meat goes bad. Most bony fishes have urinary systems that filter and store the waste separate from the fish. Most cartilaginous fishes like rays and sharks don't have a urinary system and instead excrete their waste out of their skin, except for a few mackerel sharks like the mako which is why they taste delicious. Blacktips and other commonly caught sharks need to be bled as much as possible immediately after catching them to drain their waste from their bodies. The quickest way to do that is get it in quick, grab it and cut right behind the gills on top of the head about 2 to 3 inches down. That way you'll sever the largest arteries and veins quickly along with the spine. After you cut it hold it by the tail and let it bleed out into the water until it's bled out. Be careful doing this because big sharks get real curious if they're around and might snatch it out of your hand. It's probably best to gut it as well, but as long as you don't plan on staying out long with it baking in the yak you should be fine. And like all fish the smaller it is the more tender it is.
Hope this helps,
BA