The bounty of the oceans is absolutely amazing and there are so many species that live there under the water. A few we know well, and so many we don't. I can barely wrap my brain around the species that live near underwater volcanoes, eyeless because of the lack of light, and taking energy from the hot water. Some even ideate that the very origin of life began in these underwater volcanoes.
I haven't been out to our coast in years, but when I was going out on charter fishing boats, many of the species that came up were familiar, but there were always the outliers. Some so alien-looking, it seemed they could not have originated on this planet! Scientists are still discovering totally new marine species, so I'm not going to beat myself up for not being able to identify a fish. It's still fun to try, though, and I am captivated by a mystery.
We have a strange custom here in NC with charter fishing boats, and I would be interested to hear if it is practiced in other areas. When the fishing day is through; and it starts brutally early before dawn, and the lines are all pulled up, the passengers and fishermen go to upper decks and the deckhands hose down the fishy, bloody lower deck on the way back to port. That's not the strange part, but when we near port the catch is pulled from the ice coolers and hung from rails around the ship like this example from the Captain Stacy boat that operates out or Morehead City, NC at Atlantic Beach. Most of what you see here are red and silver snapper. Often the weather is very hot and the ocean wind is whipping, so this is not the best treatment for extremely perishable raw fish. This process of hanging the fish up is started an hour or more before we come to port, because it takes a while if the catch has been good. When the boats come into port with their catch hung up, I reckon it's good advertising for the charter line, entertainment for the tourists and diners in the portside restaurants, but not the best way to handle raw fish. I've never seen any fisherman protest. I guess they like showing off their fishing prowess.
Has anyone seen this practice elsewhere?
