Philosophy of Fishing - Why Don't Fishers immediately kill the fish they're going to eat?

[cloxchulanthevegginator]

Let me start by saying I'm all about hunting and fishing for meat, that said I my feeling is that if you're going to hunt an animal for food, you should kill it instantly vs letting it bleed out (deer and what not ) or suffocate (Fish). I've been watching a lot of fishing videos lately and am wondering if anyone knows why fishers let the fist they catch suffocate vs like...idk putting a pin through their head to kill them instantly. Seems more humane?

Does anyone know why this is?

Example video:

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Some people say the meat is tastier when you do it that way. It's the 'best' way of getting the blood out (which doesnt taste nice and spoils the meat).
On top of that, it lives for a longer amount of time, so they stay fresh longer.

In saying this I personally believe in humane hunting so I'd prefer them to hunt and kill on the spot, so that the animal doesn't suffer needlessly.

 

[Jason890]

Not sure why people do that
I do lots of fishing also done lots of spear fishing in my youth
Always bled them when caught
In fact you need to bleed some species when caught for them to taste better
Cheers Jason

 

[FarmerMark613]

Let me start by saying I'm all about hunting and fishing for meat, that said I my feeling is that if you're going to hunt an animal for food, you should kill it instantly vs letting it bleed out (deer and what not ) or suffocate (Fish). I've been watching a lot of fishing videos lately and am wondering if anyone knows why fishers let the fist they catch suffocate vs like...idk putting a pin through their head to kill them instantly. Seems more humane?

Does anyone know why this is?

Example video:

when I kill a deer, elk etc I immediately clean it so it doesn’t spoil, with fish I put them in a live well to keep them from spoiling

 

[cloxchulanthevegginator]

when I kill a deer, elk etc I immediately clean it so it doesn’t spoil, with fish I put them in a live well to keep them from spoiling

See now that makes sense putting them in a bucket and waiting till you can process them all. Out of curiosity, what's the process for the actually killing then prepping of a fish?

 

[FarmerMark613]

See now that makes sense putting them in a bucket and waiting till you can process them all. Out of curiosity, what's the process for the actually killing then prepping of a fish?

Once I down a deer or elk I immediately begin removing the ”guts”…. I have a “live” well in our boat which pumps fresh water into and out of to keep them alive, once finished fishing I will hit them on the head and remove the innards and consume them the same day or next, I really enjoy smoking my fish instead of pan frying (unless camping)

 

[Grandmother Goose]

I don't know much about it, but there's a thing called ikejime - it's a Japanese method of killing and bleeding fish immediately as they are caught to improve flavour by not letting the fish suffer, causing the release of hormones that change the taste of the fish. If you want to sell fish on the Japanese market, it has to be done this way or they'll reject it as being inferior. Google might have more information on that topic than I do.

 

[FarmerMark613]

Thank you for the information, I appreciate it and will try it to see i I can tell any difference in taste 👍