Is it safe to eat fish caught in a marina?

[Oscarpop]

We decided to try fishing off the back of the boat this afternoon purely to pass the time, as we are weather bound in a marina.

Ended up catching a beautiful sea bass, but threw it back as we were not sure that it is safe to eat anything caught in a marina.

Can the forumites please advise?

Ta

 

[nigelmercier]

Fish should be OK, but not the mussels.

Make sure you gut and rinse it well.

 

[l'escargot]

Bass I would eat if caught in a marina but probably not Mullet.

 

[simon barefoot]

The fish will be fine. Mullet are every bit as good as bass, but harder to catch. 2lb line, size 16 hook, bread pellet as bait, tiny, tiny lead weight. Lots of ground bait.
Descale then gut and rinse well, roast with soy sauce, tiny bit of chilli, pepper etc in a roughly oriental style.

 

[Fire99]

Normal fish yes, however I've heard that Mullett are a very long living fish who like to hang out in some very unsavoury places. Not a great eat. (Though I can't say I've tried one, personally)

 

[philip_stevens]

Normal fish yes, however I've heard that Mullett are a very long living fish who like to hang out in some very unsavoury places. Not a great eat. (Though I can't say I've tried one, personally)

Mullet caught at sea along the coast are OK, but not marina mullet!

I have had no fouling on my boat for the past few years, but!! I have had mullet jaw marks on the hull A/F, where the fish has gone along the hull scraping off any weed growth - and a jaw-full of A/F as well I have watched them do it!!

Bass are a different feeder, and are usually a good eat.

 

[oldbilbo]

Look at the price of sea bass in your local store, then compare with the price of locally-caught mullett.....

 

[chartnavigator]

Mullet may look nice but taste muddy and have unappealing dietary habits. Stick to the bass if you can catch them. They usually only go for a towed spinner.

 

[maby]

I should say that it also depends to a large extent on the volume of water flow through the marina - in a locked basin like Chatham, the levels of pollution must build up significantly.

 

[nigelmercier]

I have had mullet jaw marks on the hull A/F, where the fish has gone along the hull scraping off any weed growth...

Perhaps we should be coating our boats with something that attracts mullet.

 

[johnalison]

I suppose I should have had a go at these chaps in Dover in May, which I presume in my ichthyological ignorance are bass, but I don't have the gear, though I could have dangled my mackerel line I suppose. Last year we saw some sturdy catfish in Laboe around the boat.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Even the French don't eat harbour mullet - which says something!

 

[fishermantwo]

Fish farms have enormous amounts of **** in them. This is fed off to other ponds where mullet are used to "Clean" this water before being killed and sent off to market.

 

[Seajet]

No Way !

I once had to snorkel under a boat in a marina to free the prop, the tide was falling which gave me 3' or so space; I won't say what I was rubbing in, but it wasn't mud !

I'd rather starve or as a real emergency resort have pot noodles.

 

[Robin]

I take it those who would not eat mullet also don't eat free range pork by the same logic? Mullet are very good to eat and a substitute for bass according to Rick Stein to name but one. I have eaten marina mullet, even from Cherbourg and harbour mullet and mullet on sale in Poole at least on some past occasions came from our old marina, as I had cause to complain about the nets laid across the end of our berth some days mid week when the local benefit frauds (sorry fishermen in their poole canoes) thought it was quiet enough they could get away with it.

Poop in marinas? Surely not! Does nobody swim at Studland etc from their boats or do the seahorses clean up all the little brown bits?

I could understand it perhaps in a locked marina but not where they are open to tidal flow. Sorry Seajet but unless the owner was perhaps an elephant I suspect imagination rules OK?

 

[l'escargot]

Bass are hunters and eat other fish, crustaceans and worm and tend to roam in search of food. Mullet will quite happy live permanently in the marina, sifting the mud and weed in search of food, including slime and weed attached to the bottom of boats and pontoons.

The meat of the two fish is also an entirely different texture and flavour because of their differing lifestyles and diets. Recipes for Bass tend to be delicately flavoured and simply cooked because the meat is flavoursome and quite light. Recipes for Mullet generally involve longer cooking, even including it soups and stews because it doesn't break down with long cooking, and involve stronger flavourings because the meat is denser and quite strong in flavour - usually of mud.

I don't think the two fish are comparable in terms of flavour - if you were to prepare a fillet of each in the same way just pan fried with minimum seasoning you would have 2 distinctly different meals. I would go as far to say the Bass would be delicious and the Mullet would be barely edible.

 

[rudolph_hart]

Someone told me a very long & complicated cooking method for Grey Mullet that involved a steamer and a house brick ....

I've seen a Dutch family catch, cook & eat a mullet in a marina in the Veersemeer - not a lot of flow through there - but they seemed none the worse for it.

On the other hand, I've eaten Grey Mullet fillets in a posh restaurant in Wicklow and it was delicious, but I would NEVER eat one caught in a marina.

 

[doug748]

Thanks for that l'escargot, I suspect those are the real reasons the French do not bother with Mullet.
You can have a grand afternoon's sport fishing for them, they fight very well, but I have always returned them to the water.

 

[PCUK]

Eating marina fish is just a way of "Getting your own back"!

 

[l'escargot]

Someone told me a very long & complicated cooking method for Grey Mullet that involved a steamer and a house brick ....

The usual recommendation is cook until the brick begins to soften then throw away the mullet and eat the brick...