Eating Dogs

[RedHerring]

A friend of mine who is a very casual fisherman caught a doggy and without knowing any better or reading the about all the ammonia nonsense, cooked the damn thing up and ate it. He said is was the best fish he ever had!!! I suspect that if he had read all the baloney about ammonia and peeing through the skin, he would have thrown it out, but he ate it and gave an unbiased opinion. Remember that Mako sharks pee through the skin and I have not heard any bunk about them being full of ammonia.

As far as what species the Limey's eat, in the old days Arnold Spooner in Westport, MA was exporting local doggies for the British market. He did a hell of a business; he only paid a penny a pund and sold it for who knows how much.

[fishpoopoo]

skate wings are actually pretty good eating - better than spiny dogfish IMO. the meat is very tender.

like all shark-like creatures that do not have kidneys to process waste - you have to kill, gut, and bleed skates ASAP - else you will be eating ammonia filet.

[EarnedStripes44]

Originally Posted by Bassturbed

skate wings are actually pretty good eating - better than spiny dogfish IMO. the meat is very tender.

like all shark-like creatures that do not have kidneys to process waste - you have to kill, gut, and bleed skates ASAP - else you will be eating ammonia filet.

How big do the skates have to be? The ones that I catch are not very big. Actually, they are about the size of my computer monitor and I believe they are the clearnose variety.

[fishpoopoo]

hard to say. the skates i have caught in Long Island, NY waters are measurably larger than ones i've caught in RI/Mass, and so the former have been dinner-fare.

you're eating the wings, so if you have wings that have more meat than cartilage, or if you're into a mess of skates, by all means, give it a try.

if anyone here has a method for quickly and humanely dispatching skates (cutting the wings off a life skate is cruel) ... lemme know. sharp blow to the head?

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by Bassturbed

hard to say. the skates i have caught in Long Island, NY waters are measurably larger than ones i've caught in RI/Mass, and so the former have been dinner-fare.

you're eating the wings, so if you have wings that have more meat than cartilage, or if you're into a mess of skates, by all means, give it a try.

if anyone here has a method for quickly and humanely dispatching skates (cutting the wings off a life skate is cruel) ... lemme know. sharp blow to the head?

A sharp blow to the head, or a sharp knife right through the top of the skull. They will die very quickly as opposed to cutting the wings off.
I used to club dogfish, then throw them overboard. Sometimes I would see them swimming upside down in circles a half hour later. I actually felt bad for them.
Also, lets promote dogfish as great table fare, whether they are good or not. The more that end up on plates, the less there are in the water being nuisances.