Tope/Spurdog!

I was in the english market today in cork with the girlfriends sister and husband who are visiting from austria they had two large spurdogs on the counter ( they looked big but im shite at guessing weights) this looked bad enough but they had a 26 kilo tope not sure if this is huge or not or if there allowed to sell these species and for a joke they had a small bass in the tops mouth, made me feel sick these fish look completly out of place on a fish counter i think.

what might look wrong in this country might be normal in England,i heard they sell dog fish as rock salmon
did you as any questions of where the bass came from

im pretty sure they are. as far as im concerned, these fish are probably by-catch, though i think they still target spurdogs. i'd rather see someone eating them than just getting thrown back overboard. in truth though, it doesnt sit well with me but as long as people eat fish stuff like this will happen, before anyone asks i had plaice for dinner tonight!

Well the bass was farmed from turkey i think he said im not saying it was illegal i just think these fishbelong in the sea and not on the table. I know this applies to all fish but i think any of the shark species look out of place

I've seen Spurs in fish shops / wholesalers before .... it's also sold as rock salmon along with smooth hounds sad but true...

Mod Edit: Youngrod, that was just pure abusiveness. It was knee-jerk reaction that didn't require any though or consideration on your part.

We kind of expect better around here. If you're going to be abusive, try to be imaginative and creative about it. Take it out of the gutter levels please.

Tanglerat

Basslover,do you think bass belong in the sea if so why was there one in your kitchen,the tope would be better put back ,but if dead when caught then its going to market.my only fear is that people dont get a taste for tope.as shark go they are one of the best to eat.i have seen all kinds of shark for sale in spanish fish markets,so hopefully we dont follow suit.the odd tope in the fishmongers wont affect the numbers

the asian cash and carry in tramore road have tope in the odd time. i cant remember the price but dont think it was cheap. if its sold for food then i dont see the big deal, no fuss being made about cod, monkfish, sole, macks or the many other types of fish being sold. the Bass in the mouth is only gonna be offensive to people who practice C&R with them, most people just in buying a fillet or 2 couldnt care less but it will look "good" on a display.

what might look wrong in this country might be normal in England,i heard they sell dog fish as rock salmon
did you as any questions of where the Bass came from

The English Market is in Cork, I don't think it has anything to do with England.
Sad to see it regardless, AFAIK these fish are slow-growing and late maturing and can't withstand commercial exploitation. Spurs are only starting to be caught again in Galway Bay now, many years after being pretty much wiped out by trawling. Would be great to have similar protection as the bass have...

Sure I've heard reports of smoothound, tope, spurs etc for sale in Moore St. market in Dublin.

At the end of the day, if its legal, then so be it.....if ya dont like it dont buy it.

Ireland is a multi-cultural country now, and most of the fish species that Irish/British consider exclusively as sport fish are actually a staple part of other culture's fish diet, thats just the way it is.

I've eaten many exotic foods in my time, but never the aforementioned fish, however I'd definately be prepared to try them...........I'm off to the marlet now to get me some shark for breakfast

what might look wrong in this country might be normal in England,i heard they sell dog fish as rock salmon
did you as any questions of where the Bass came from

The English Market is in Cork, I don't think it has anything to do with England.
Sad to see it regardless, AFAIK these fish are slow-growing and late maturing and can't withstand commercial exploitation. Spurs are only starting to be caught again in Galway Bay now, many years after being pretty much wiped out by trawling. Would be great to have similar protection as the Bass have...

indeed bradan, it is unfortunate that the likes of spurdog, tope, skate etc.... inhabit the same ground as some of the more familiar edible species. trawlers and the like will catch them regardless and will be forced to dump them due to a 'proposed' protection scheme, akin to the quota system which simply doesnt work. the bass gets away with this due to the fact, in ireland anyway, they are mainly an inshore fish that escape the majority of commercial pressure. perhaps the idea of a proctective zone, (commercial & recreational angling no go area) would be of benifit to them. such schemes already exist in england and seem to be working.

I've eaten many exotic foods in my time,

Yeah I heard you had Co Co Pops for brekkie!

Sad to read this,infact sickened.Unfortunately if its legal then theres no problem with it going on sale in such markets,and if you've a problem then don't buy it.With regards to basslovers picture of a bass in his kitchen give the guy a break,from memory it was his first one that he caught and i can vouch for him in that since then he has gained the utmost of respect when it comes to c+r for all species other than bass.By the way before the anti c+r brigade jump on board i've no problem with anyone keeping fish for the table including bass.
Sadly though i don't like to see fish like tope on the fishmongers stall as they are scarce just ask the guys who fish for them regularly and blank
Tight lines

Point taken,maybe i was a bit over the tope

Sad to read this,infact sickened.Unfortunately if its legal then theres no problem with it going on sale in such markets,and if you've a problem then don't buy it.With regards to basslovers picture of a Bass in his kitchen give the guy a break,from memory it was his first one that he caught and i can vouch for him in that since then he has gained the utmost of respect when it comes to c+r for all species other than Bass.By the way before the anti c+r brigade jump on board i've no problem with anyone keeping fish for the table including Bass.
Sadly though i don't like to see fish like tope on the fishmongers stall as they are scarce just ask the guys who fish for them regularly and blank
Tight lines

tope are not that scarce, plenty are caught off the boats up here every year.

what might look wrong in this country might be normal in England,i heard they sell dog fish as rock salmon
did you as any questions of where the Bass came from

The English Market is in Cork, I don't think it has anything to do with England.
Sad to see it regardless, AFAIK these fish are slow-growing and late maturing and can't withstand commercial exploitation. Spurs are only starting to be caught again in Galway Bay now, many years after being pretty much wiped out by trawling. Would be great to have similar protection as the Bass have...

indeed bradan, it is unfortunate that the likes of spurdog, tope, skate etc.... inhabit the same ground as some of the more familiar edible species. trawlers and the like will catch them regardless and will be forced to dump them due to a 'proposed' protection scheme, akin to the quota system which simply doesnt work. the Bass gets away with this due to the fact, in ireland anyway, they are mainly an inshore fish that escape the majority of commercial pressure. perhaps the idea of a proctective zone, (commercial & recreational angling no go area) would be of benifit to them. such schemes already exist in england and seem to be working.

You're right Eric, trawling will still affect these species, but if they are afforded some protection at least they won't be targeted. The idea of inshore zones protected from commercial fishing is a great one, protecting the nursery areas for juvenile fish would give a huge boost to adult stocks of all species, benefiting both commercial fishermen and anglers. Unfortunately the govt and fishermen's representatives are too shortsighted to see the benefits of this.

[beachbuddy]

Eric you're very lucky that tope are'nt scarce up your way,wish i could say the same
On the protected zones they are a brill idea and would def work if only the powers that be would be able to see beyond their noses and such an idea is so unlikely now due to the election results and the fact that FF will need as much support as possible to stay in power so they certainly won't be rocking the boat[pardon the pun] with the commercial fishing sector.
Unfortunately it looks like the fish like spurs ,tope ray etc are always going to be an enevitable so called by catch ,lets just hope not too many are taken.
Tight lines

Last edited by beachbuddy on Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It was only a general comment on the fact that i think the tope looked out of placed maybe all fish do, i was fishing yesterday for mullet and some guy had a go about us being related to fish and dandolins something to do with darwin or soething i moved quietly away.
And yes that is a bass in my kitchen first one i ever caught and one of three that i have ever kept for the pot i think he fitted in nicley in the kitchen, thanks for the kind words marlinman.

but now that a certain individual from CORK has spilled the beans on a mark in the south[shame on you] to his friends