That Skate!

[TelStar26]

Hey guys, (and gals)

I picked up a monster of a skate yesterday when i went out for hali. I was thinking, I dont know much about them. I was curious, and was wondering what if anything people here on the board could tell me about them?
Migratory habits, diet, prefered habitat exc..... Im quite curious about them.

O yea, We released it.

 

[stones93]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skate

 

[Rockfish]

Hey guys, (and gals)

I picked up a monster of a skate yesterday when i went out for hali. I was thinking, I dont know much about them. I was curious, and was wondering what if anything people here on the board could tell me about them?
Migratory habits, diet, prefered habitat exc..... Im quite curious about them.

O yea, We released it.

First thing is to remember never to grab them by the tail. There can be a nasty spike back there and having it driven through your hand loaded with nasty bacteria and I think in some species venom - not a good thing.

I have eaten skate wing and like it. Soft flesh a little like sole with larger bones that are actually made of cartilage. Don’t think I would eat a lot of it as I worry about things like mercury.

 

[spring fever]

Skate are great to eat-they are sometimes passed off as scallops-although the grain in a scallop is vertical and the skate -horizontal.. Fillet the flesh off each side of the cartilage that makes up the wings. Treat it the way you like your scallops.

 

[TelStar26]

hmmm. Interesting. I found this site while googling around. Do you think its something to report? Or no? http://bcsharkreports.blogspot.ca/

Heres a pic too!

 

[Sangstercraft]

Commercial guys sell 'em off the boat in Steveston, to the asians. When they hold them up to weigh them, the skates are just DRIPPING with slime! Doesn't look appetizing, but that market doesn't seem to mind! Interesting to hear they are sometimes passed off as scallops.

 

[spring fever]

Yeah the skates as scallops thing was pretty common occurance in the maritimes when I was a kid. The locals were always watching the grain on their scallops-God help the restranteur if the grain was horizontal!!!!

 

[Rockfish]

Fairways market in Victoria sells skinned out pieces of skate wing at times. It is inexpensive and you can get a piece, steam it up and eat it with the sauce of your choice and I think it’s tasty and good for a change.

The Pacific skate can get really big and a lot more meat than you would likely want. I also would have set it free unless you have a lot of friends who like it.

 

[Vanisle]

Fresh skate wings are delicious. Easy to tell if they are fresh, as they will start to smell like ammonia as soon as they age even a little bit.
A few years back, I bought some scallops from a seafood shop in Lonsdale Quay in North Van. There were several larger scallops in the mix that
had a powerful ammonia smell. Yup......they were skate wings cut with a cookie cutter to look like scallops. The owner was mortified when I questioned him the next day, insisting it was his supplier that had done it. As a boy growing up in Prince Rupert, my Dad owned a very famous Seafood Restaurant. Skate wings would be on the menu when ever they were available. When they would sit in the fridge for more than a day or 2, they become very wet and reeked of ammonia. When fresh, properly filleted, dredged in flour, breadcrumbs and fried in butter, they are awesome.

 

[fshnfnatic]

I've caught a few over the years,and your right about them being tasty fresh. When I was a young lad of 15,back in the
late 70's,I'd spend most of my summer vacation at the government dock in Cowichan Bay casting buzz bombs and
Stingzildas for salmon. Once in a while I'd throw a cod line off the end of the dock and just check it at the end of the
day. Went to pull it up one evening and it was like it was hung up on the bottom.Gave it everything I had and it
started to come . Got it up and there was this massive skate with about a 4ft. wingspan. Freaked the livin' crap out
of me so I just cut the thing loose with my trusty pocket knife and that was the end of that.Talked to someone later
on in life about it and he figured it would have easily gone over 60lbs. at that size. There was only 15 to 20ft. of
water so I know you can get them in shallow.

 

[Lipripper]

the skates are just DRIPPING with slime!

Really? I'll disagree.

I can think of a bunch of different fish species that drip with slime.... skates not being one of them..

 

[Sculpin]

Really? I'll disagree.

I can think of a bunch of different fish species that drip with slime.... skates not being one of them..

They might after being in a hold with other species. Just sayin. We have caught two now and both times didn't want to deal with them but close enough handling to say they were not slimey at all. I want to learn how to process them right away (like you have to ) and keep one next time we bring one to the boat. I will eat anything really lol.

 

[Sharphooks]

The slab in that pic looks to be a Big skate (Raja binoculata) although it would be more easily identified if you could see the top side of the body. The other prominent skate in your area is the Longnose skate (Raja rhina). More of an elongated nose and the large "eyes" on each wing are a bit darker and smaller (binoculata = "two eyes" )

I used to work for the gov (Nat. Marine Fish Service) before I was a commie and was involved in bottom-trawl surveys all over the Gulf of Alaska + Bering Sea-----I got to see all the critters that live both mid-water and bottom. The skates were always the cool ones--they look like freaking dinosaurs!

The other member of the fish family Rajidea is the genus member Bathyraja which are the deep-water rays. You guys have piles of those, but they're generally so deep the sports guys don't catch them

For anyone interested, the Raja (skates) and Bathyraja (rays) are separated by their noses--- The genus Raja are commonly known as the “stiff-snout” skates and the genus Bathyraja (rays) are known as the “soft-snout” skates.

We would cut off the wings, freeze them in pans and ship them to Korea which is probably the world's largest commercial market.

Last summer I was skimming across a shallow stretch of water in a small inflatable to take my dog to shore so she could do her business and I saw a Longnose skate in about 5 feet of water just sailing along through the kelp bed. I shiat you not, this fish was about 6 feet across--it was huge!
I just motored quietly above it, watching it do its thing in the sand. It was a really cool experience to see this monster in its natural habitat.

The longer I fish, the more I find myself just wanting to plug in to what's below my boat rather then what's in my fish box.

Sorry, I think I just had a PETA moment...

 

[Lipripper]

They might after being in a hold with other species. Just sayin.

Yup, probably buried in a load of dover sole

 

[Mike_W]

We have caught two over the last 6 years in Hardy one was from about 300 FOW and took probably 30 min to land. The thing fought like snot, actually thought we had a barn door ....when we finally got the fish to the boat we quickly realized it wasnt a huge halibut but a huge skate, wing span was atleast 5 feet across. Funny thing was is that we wernt the only ones this skate had fooled there was circle hook already in its mouth we removed both hooks and sent it back.

 

[Seafever]

Skates pee through their skin....just like Dogfish.

Hence the ammonia smell in improperly prepared meat.

You have to prep 'em like Dogfish by getting the pee out of the skin/meat first.

Once ate a small one that I baked without prepping it properly. Was nauseous for hours later.

 

[Sangstercraft]

Yup, probably buried in a load of dover sole

That must have been the case. Lots of those being sold on the same boat in Steveston as well.

 

[Mike_W]

Skates pee through their skin....just like Dogfish.

Hence the ammonia smell in improperly prepared meat.

You have to prep 'em like Dogfish by getting the pee out of the skin/meat first.

Once ate a small one that I baked without prepping it properly. Was nauseous for hours later.

How do you prep a skate or dogfish properly?

Not to sidetrack this thread but anyone keep a dog fish?....I heard the english comercial fish them for fish and chips?

 

[sammyslabber]

Speaking of skates, On recent trip to the North of Colombia, I was served up a tastey dish smoked Ray Ceviche. If prepared right,a skate could be substituded for southern ray.

re:dogfish,I know a local Kiwi who loves smoked dogfish. If I recall the Engish call dogfish - rock salmon?

 

[Enniberg]

This is getting quite interesrting. Would like to learn how to process a skate properly for eating - have not caught one yet, but I'm sure it is just a matter of time. Good to be prepared.

Dogfish - not so much....