Black Veins in Fish Flesh

[minimal]

I've filleted the first few fish I've caught from PPB and noticed they had quite a few black veins running through the fillets.

The first time, it freaked me out a bit and I thought something was wrong with it. I've since been told it's normal, but I just can't recall seeing these veins in any shop-bought white fish fillets!

Snapper and Flathead both had them - some more than others.

So.. is it normal!? Does it matter if there are these running all through the flesh!?

[Tomcat1]

i haven't had any of the port PPB fish i have caught with any black veins. are you killing the fish soon after catching them? and are you cleaning the fish the same day or refrigerating them before cleaning them?

[Fish-cador]

normal - blood vessels. Consider it as the fish version of varicose veins. Bleeding the fish straight away after landing it minimizes the visibility of the veins when cooked.

[minimal]

I'll take some pics of the crudely fillet flathead (don't laugh - I'm awful at filleting so far. Takes a bit of praccy!)

Edit: See below. This fish was killed immediately (Ike Jime), but I didn't cut it's throat (i.e. bleed) at the time of catching. I refrigerated for a short while when I returned home, then filleted (within 2-3hrs of it leaving the ocean...)

[frozenpod]

I am not 100% sure they are veins, it might be a parasite.

[re-tyred]

Keep your fish alive till you are ready to deal with them.(in a keeper net), Then kill them gut them and make sure you at least cut through their neck. Scrape out all the guts and membrane down the back of the gut cavity. Put them into cold salt water for 20 mins. Then into the fridge or on ice. Commercially caught fish are iced down very quickly. When they are cleaned and filleted they are put in iced water to soak for a while. This reduces the black viens and the other discolouration. The secret of good eating quality is get them cold very quickly and wash the fillets in cold salt water.

[2smokinbarrels]

Good tip I got off somebody, make an ice slurry (bag of ice in an esky or bucket with same amount of the salt water where you are fishing.) put the fish in there as soon as you catch it. It kills it quickly and humanely and gives it the best flavour and flesh condition.

[Tomcat1]

i usually dont take a esky with me when i fish on the pier. too much extra weight. i just throw them into my bucket with fresh ocean water. i clean them when i get ready to leave the pier. i also use the bay water to clean them. i usually scale and gut them at the pier. when i get home i clean them up better and fillet them if i am going to cook them as fillets. put them in freezer bags and get all the air out and put them in the refrigerator or freezer depending on when i am going to cook them. but i never noticed any black veins in the meat. back home we use to get fish that got worms in them after they got big. when we got fish that had worms we soaked them in milk to get rid of them.

[minimal]

Cheers guys - very interesting to learn about how people care for their catches (something I am still learning properly).

I was fairly mobile on Saturday, walking about flicking soft plastics, so had not taken an esky with me. Not sure how you get round this problem when you want to be able to keep moving... (I pretty much had to pack up and leave when I caught a keeper)

Thanks again

[Fish-cador]

First time I saw a pic of a fish flesh with something like that while still uncooked. I usually see the lines comes out after I cooked it. Thus I said it's veins. However, i dont think they are parasites. Even if they are, just jook it well. :lolf: :dinner: