When I surf fish, I generally end up taking them home whole and deal with the mess at home. Frankly Its a pain, and I think that you should be able to clean fish at sea and bring home fillets. Charter boats do! Again, why is it that the laws don't seem to effect commerical guys the same? OH I guess they obay the law and the recs don't? (Thats BS we all know it)
Cleaning them at home is a pain and like someone mentioned...once a week trash pick-up means triple bagging and hoping the dorsal spines don't poke thru. (read: more plastic in the landfill) Week-old fish guts in the sun get pretty ripe. Putting them in the garden is not an option here...the skunks then the ravens will just dig them up and make a mess like you've never seen. I don't have my chum grinder fully operational yet but I am working that problem and it should help (somewhat) with disposal.
When on board, I plan to clean most of my fish at sea this year. They don't inspect anyways, never been stopped in 40 years and with cutbacks in marine enforcement I will take my chances with the constable.
I will bring home weigh-in calibler fish whole. But I ain't bringing home no 50 scup to clean.
I don't have too much of a problem cleaning them in a marina setting but this can get out of hand quick. Too many dead fish at the dock will pollute the water and cause other problems. Cleaning them at sea is the proper way to dispose of the fish IMO.
But the law says you have to take them home. At the serious fishing marinas at Montauk they stopped you from putting fish in the water near the dock a looooong time ago (it was causing real water quality problems) They have a dumpster next to a serious fish cleaning station that gets emptied at least once a day. Most marinas have weak facilities in this area and discourage cleaning of fish. Frankly if it is done right, there is little smell.
I bet if you dropped off the remains at the voting members home the laws would change real quick. (just an idea)
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