Black Croaker...Good table fare?

[5869]

I've been bumping into more black croaker. One relatively large specimen repeatedly blocked my view of another fish I recently considered taking like he was offering himself up instead. Didn't want to shoot it considering I didn't know if they were good table fare, nor was I aware of their take or no-take status in the MLPA. Did a search and only found one person (MNGUY)who has reported taking them.

I'm always up for trying something new and there seems to be very little information on the net regarding them.

Has anybody tried them? Any relevant feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Stephan

[sb spearo]

i got a couple during the summer, they are okay, not remarkable, but definitely good panfried

[mnguy]

I like em. Of course, I'm Vietnamese so it comes to no surprise that I like croakers of any stripe. They are also called china croaker, so you may be able to find more information on them under that moniker.

Pan fry is good. I'm always a big advocate of steaming fish whole chinese style and black croakers are no exception.

I tend to find them in holes and under ledges during the daytime running interference on the big sandies that are farther back under said hole/ledge.

[GrizzlyAdams]

I've taken them before, I'm not a big fan but always end up eating them when I take my lil sis diving haha

[Ethan kills]

I Think croaker is good. They can be really contaminated though

[mcnavas]

I've never wanted to take one because Croaker's are listed in the Health advisory for limited consumption. I look at this like Cigarettes or Sacarin. It Might give you cancer so why put it in your body? There are plenty of other fish out there that are not bottom feeders and NOT on the Health Caution list.

Check out pages 73 - 76 in the Ocean Regs book. It describes the fish in detail.

[5869]

Thanks guys. I think I'll leave them alone. They certainly offer no challenge and look to be a small health risk and If I can't find anything else then I'm just lame.

Thanks again.

[rojodiablo]

Originally Posted by mcnavas

I've never wanted to take one because Croaker's are listed in the Health advisory for limited consumption. I look at this like Cigarettes or Sacarin. It Might give you cancer so why put it in your body? There are plenty of other fish out there that are not bottom feeders and NOT on the Health Caution list.

Check out pages 73 - 76 in the Ocean Regs book. It describes the fish in detail.

Say; you're not holding up a CROAKER in your avatar pic, in that DDT ridden PV, are you???

[mcnavas]

Originally Posted by rojodiablo

Say; you're not holding up a CROAKER in your avatar pic, in that DDT ridden PV, are you???

How dare you call my WSB a Croaker! Well, they are in the Croaker family but they don't vacuum up the DDT like the White and Black Croakers do.

That WSB in the Avatar was taken in the crystal clean waters of Malibu. There's no pollution there.....trust me......