All Britains Fish

[santaman2000]

[QUOTE="Mesquite, post: 1903135, member: 8672"....
I can't understand why you have to be so critical about the fact that a turtle is being kept alive and isn't being thrown in the nearest cookpot because that's what you would do. For someone to to be able to cook it they would have to humanely dispatch it and butcher it accordingly. Very few people would have the facilities to do that or want to.

.....Just accept that the animal was dealt with appropriately for THIS country and move on[/QUOTE

I’m not being critical. Your article stated that nobody wanted to take on the responsibility of homing them for them so I take that to mean there’s not a guarantee that they are being dealt with properly. Instead it sounds as if they’re likely being killed out of sight and simply discarded.

As for humanely dispatching turtles there are basically two ways (both easily available to the type people who’d be taking them from the wild)

1) If they’re hooked while you’re fishing (an extremely common occurrence as they eat the same foods as your bait) cut off their heads the same way you’d do with any chicken.

2) If you wander up on them on the shore just shoot them as any other wild game (head shots are a must, but they’re also easy)

The real issue is Why are you being so defensive when somebody asks a question or makes a suggestion?

 

[santaman2000]

You are talking about something that dates back to the 1700's that was imported to this country.

It has not been traditional to eat turtles here because they aren't a native species and probably haven't been for thousands of years........

The fact that they aren’t native is pretty much the point. There’s no valid reason not to harvest them. Again, I compare them to the invasive crawfish (which are eaten by many on this very forum)

As for “importing” eating habits, well, is it traditional there to eat chicken (domesticated in Asia and spread around the world) is it traditional to eat fish & chips? (Potatoes were unknown until after Walter Raleigh sent them back from the New World) is curry considered traditional yet?

I could go on but I think you get the point.

 

[santaman2000]

I bet there's plenty of people in the UK who would eat a turtle if they could get hold of them. We're very diverse these days. Same with fresh water fish. It's quite a problem now stopping some cultures from emptying our fishing lakes. The culture of eating freshwater fish here probably died off more due to our strict ownership laws and rod licencing. Not to mention a lot of our waters turned pretty manky during the industrial revolution and have only been cleaned up relatively recently.

I suspect the freshwater fish still most commonly in the UK is trout. Likely because it’s farmed and available for purchase

To be completely honest, the most commonly eaten freshwater fish here is probably the farmed species as well: catfish, trout, or tilapia (for the same reasons) unless we count salmon as freshwater fish (ours commercially caught wild salmon is harvested while migrating in freshwater for spawning)

 

[Janne]

Fish and chips is thought of being a Jewish/English invention, I think.

Or food 'transplant'.

Carp used to be one of the most common fresh water fish eaten in Europe, but the slight change in Christian worshipping and improved fishing vessel, transportation techniques made saltwater fish cheaper and more available.

I remember when saltwater fish was still seen as 'poor food'.

 

[Robson Valley]

Around the Great Lakes of North America, particularly on the American side, the burbot (aka freshwater cod)
is called a "lawyer." The meat texture changes with cooking speeds.
Bottom fishing with bait (when nobody was looking) or picked from our inventory netting sample catches.

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

I wonder how the sturgeon got into an English pond? Must be hard for fish which spends its life in sea to get to a pond. I understand Burbot which looks like our mískwetatê is not longer found in your waters for long time. Neither fish are good to eat. Give to dogs.

 

[Janne]

Smoked Sturgeon is delicious.
The Burbot soup too. Very traditional winter soup in Sweden and Finland.

Depends on the way things are cooked I guess.
I can myself mess up the finest ingredients, no problem!

 

[Tengu]

Burbot is a codfish. No problem. (Only found in a few East England rivers and became extinct in the 1960s)

I have heard Sturgeon is like veal or pork. (This example is probably a pet fish. They are seriously unusual in the wild here, though examples are caught)

It is a royal fish, just like a whale.

I am not very keen on fish but I think I like cod. (Veal or pork like beast sounds good too).

What fish do you like, Joe? A lot of fish we disdain in this country is a delicacy elsewhere. (Like the pike)

 

[Robson Valley]

Fresh water "Ling Cod" looks a lot like ocean cod but I don't know if they are really related. #1 on my plate.
They look ugly as sin but I got past that half a century ago.

We have land-locked Sockeye salmon here which are called "Kokanee."
They spawn in our creeks and rivers of lakes in the southern interior of BC.

Where I live at 53N, we get spawning runs of Fraser River ocean salmon.
The Spring salmon species in the Bowron River might go 30lbs max.
Upstream from me is Rearguard Falls. Waterfall that no salmon can jump.

 

[Janne]

Large Sturgeon is a bit like Wahoo or Swordfish. Kind of courser muscle fibers. overcook and it gets very dry.
Smaller, farmed sturgeon are really nice.

If you ever had a very large cod ( live weight 30 kg+) that one can be a little bit similar.

Russians love it smoked. Thin slices, rye bread squares, alternate with lots of well chilled Vodka, pickled gherkins, pickled onions.....

If you take to much of those foods, the Pickles will give you a nasty headache the day after!


If you clean up the rivers in UK, one day the majestic Sturgeon will come back. And you can reintroduce the Burbot too!

 

[Robson Valley]

Cleaning rivers? The UK has done a great job. I heard there were salmon up the Thames!
Was just announced here that some Canadian rivers in the province of Ontario
are saltier (road salt runoff) than the ocean! That is really something to brag about.

All we have here now is a Boil Water Advisory because too much rock dust in the water and the UV cleaner
doesn't do as good a job.

One single episode of cattle grazing on grassland changes the Biome forever.
A lot of stuff we do is no return, ever.

 

[Broch]

There are 27 different species of Sturgeon. In the UK the only native species is Acipenser sturio - now considered near extinct. It is illegal to release Russian Sturgeon in UK waters but it happens - heavy fines follow

 

[Janne]

Yes, Britain rivers are much cleaner now than before, but still a bit to go. I used to fish in Medway. Not the cleanest.
All of mainland Europe, and some rivers in Scandinavia are still filthy.

As a hobby fisherman, I always wished for industries to clean up their act. Saw a lot of destruction of the natural Fauna.

 

[santaman2000]

Cleaning rivers? The UK has done a great job. I heard there were salmon up the Thames......

And that was before I got there 34 years ago. I’m sure they’ve cleaned it even more now.

 

[Janne]

All of Europe is ‘cleaning up’.

Every time I go I see more of every type of wildlife.