In Hawaii, we like to eat our fish raw if possible, as sashimi or poke. But if your fish isn’t super fresh, and bled properly, it might taste fishy/bloody, and worst case, make you sick.

Whether you’re dunking off the beach, or fishing off a boat, here’s what you want to do to make your catch as ono as possible. Thanks to the Coach Haru, Capt Darren, Capt Erik and Kelly for the tips below.

• Bring the fish in as quickly as possible. The fish builds up lactic acid as it struggles to get free, and that lactic acid spoils the meat.
• Spike the fish in the brain to stop sending stress signals out to the fish’s body. Stress causes undesirable chemical changes which affect the taste. The fish will stop squirming when dead but the heart will still pump for a while.
• Cut or pull the gills to bleed the fish. Blood makes the meat spoil quicker. You want to reach the gills that are connected to the fish’s main artery. Usually that’s the gill closest to the spine. The heart will still pump blood out. Hold the fish by the tail, or leave in a bucket, until the gills are light pink and no longer red.
• Big, bloody fish like ahi should be gutted to prevent the fish from “cooking” from the inside out. After gutting the large fish, stuff its cavity with ice to cool down the meat.
• If possible, perform “ike jime” by running a wire down the spinal cord to stop the nerves from firing and sending stress signals.
• Ideally you want to “brine” the fish in icy, salt water. Fresh water, with chlorine does bad things to the fish so that’s to be avoided. If you don’t have the means to saltwater brine the fish, try to surround the fish with ice cubes so as much surface area of the fish is encased.
• If your fish is still in great shape when you get home, you can leave the fish overnight in a salty brine, or wrap tightly in a plastic bag in a fresh water brine, to really get the core temperature down. If the fish is small enough to fit in your fridge, you can wrap it tightly in a plastic bag and place in the lowest area of your your fridge. You can clean the fish the following day as specified in the next step.
• If your fish wasn’t iced well, and possibly “cooked”, you need to clean it as soon as possible. Remove the guts and all the blood meat. Wipe the filets with a paper towel and try not to expose them to fresh water. Wrap the clean filets in paper towel, then in a snug plastic bag and store in the bottom of your fridge. The paper towel will pull blood and moisture off the filets. Change the wrappings every day.
• “Aging” the fish in the fridge will bring out the good flavors and extract the fishy-ness. Certain fish are very firm initially, ahi for example, and need to age for a few days in order to be soft enough to feel good in the mouth. Uku is needs at least two days to soften also. Softer fish like goat fish can be consumed sooner. White meat, non-bloody fish will last a lot longer than red meat fish. As a test you can sample a small piece of the filet everyday to see how it changes.
• If the fish has a slimy, slightly smelly coating when you prepare it for serving, you can rinse it quickly in a bowl of freshwater, salt and lemon. Don’t do this unless necessary, however, since you will rinse off the taste too!

I recently caught fish larger than the usual “pan fryahs”, on humid days, and didn’t have enough ice in my fish bag, and in the cooler overnight. See the impact this had on the fish below. The guys scolded me and I’m making big changes to better care for my kayak-caught fish.

This kagami ulua “cooked” in the fish bag because it wasn’t encased in ice on a humid day. The flesh should be translucent, not whitish/opaque. It tasted fine but was firmer than it should have been.

This kawakawa “burned/cooked” in the fish bag because there wasn’t enough ice to bring down the hot, bloody fish’s temperature.

This piece was discarded but the other filets were fine, cooked. We didn’t chance eating it raw.

These rainbow runner (kamanu) filets ripped while cleaning because the fish wasn’t iced well enough overnight and didn’t firm up.

The fish tasted fine but would have kept longer and presented better if it were cared for properly.