I just caught all this tuna, now what?

You just arrived back at the dock after a wide open "wfo" two day tuna trip. Everyone aboard who caught fish meets at the top of the dock where the fish are handed out generally by the fisherman's manifest number (te sign in sheet filled out by law before the boat departs). Some fish are already filleted while during the trip, a decision made by the angler. You are now thinking "what the heck am I going to do with all this fish I just caught and get it back home to Texas" (or wherever you are from)

There are "dockside" services for handling all your processing needs. There are many options available, some pricier than others. From shipping your catch home that was filleted on the boat to same day filet and ship services, just about anything can be done for a price. Here's just a few of the services available to you:

• Trade whole Tuna for pre-packaged smoked Tuna (or other fish like Dorado or Wahoo when available)


• Trade whole Tuna for canned Albacore


• Ship your fish filleted on the boat home to any place in the world (some restrictions may apply)


• Fillet and ship your whole fish
• Trading is done by "x" amount of pounds of fish caught to "x" amount of pounds canned. Your best bet is listen to the deckhands or captain on your trip for advice on how to best handle and process your catch. On shorter trips where your catch is filleted nightly after a day of fishing, let the pros deal with the mess and time of filleting. Most deckhands have years of experience in fish handling and rely on customer satisfaction and fish cleaning to make a living. So everyone benefits by having the boat care for your fish. They filet fish everyday and most are very good at it. If you do want the crew to clean your fish, be sure to tell them any special requests like skin on, having the fish "rocked", save the bellies and cheeks, etc...
  
  By the way, Tuna bellies have a very high trade value for smoked wahoo and other excellent tasting fish. Cheeks are full of meat and heads can be used for soup. Or you may just want the fillets to give to friends and family with some saved for yourself of course.
  
  Whatever you choose, proper handling is essential for health reasons. You will not regret these services when you get in from your trip. Just plan on working it in on the cost of your trip.
  
  Here's the links to two popular dockside services:
  Fisherman's Processing
  Sportsmen's Seafood
  Five Star Processing

Some additional Questions:

Original question I received by email from one of my very appreciated visitors:

Rob,

I stumbled across your web site as I prepare for a brief fishing trip in San Diego. I'm sure I'm the regular type that contacts you; I'm just going on a 1/2 day trip with my girlfriend during a long weekend. All the same, I'm wondering if there are any companies that will pack and ship our catch (which I'm assuming I can have filleted on the boat/dock). We live in AZ, so it wouldn't be a long journey. I would think it could be packed in dry ice inside a sturdy cooler, similar to Omaha Steaks.

Do you have any ideas for somewhere that might be able to lend us a hand. We are hitting the water on next Friday (8/13/10).

-Jordan

Here's the great response from Five Star:

Rob, One more thing I forgot to add- if they take the box or ice chest on as luggage, they can only fill it to 50 lbs.  Otherwise huge charges apply.  That should be added if anyone asks.   Thanks for the kind words.   ~Sarah Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 9:57 AM To: info@sportfishsandiego.com Subject: Re: Who will pack and ship fish in San Diego? - Email from Rob at SportfishSanDiego (com)

This is a hard question for me to answer because our business relies on the processing of the WHOLE fish off of long range trips.  We do not make money on the shipping part of it, because the customer pays for the box, employee time handling, taking it to the airport and making sure it gets on the correct flight.  From there, the customer usually pays C.O.D. to the airline where they would pick up the fish.  They may also pay the cost for shipping the fish straight to their door via UPS or Fed Ex. For this, I cover the cost and then they pay me back the exact cost the carrier charges me. Each situation is unique.  If I am at the docks and someone is stuck in a predicament and has no other choice, I sometimes will do them a favor and freeze their fillets & ship them.  But I try to discourage that.  I have been trying to work with the landing to see if they will sell boxes and frozen gel packs so that customers on the shorter range trips have an option to take their already fillet fish back on the plane with them as luggage.  This would be the ideal situation.   They may also take an ice chest with them before their trip and load up their fillets and take it back with them as luggage.  The fish does not need to be frozen before this...but always nice to have something cold, like gel packs to accompany the fillets.  They do not allow wet or dry ice in the containers.
I hope I answered your question.  
Thank you for the support. ~Sarah Saraspe www.fivestarfishprocessing.com