Re: Seasonal quality of tuna?

Posted by Craig Smith on 2012-03-03 11:05:05 in reply to Seasonal quality of tuna? posted by Ron Begnaud on 2012-03-03 09:55:45

I don't know about seasonal differences but how the fish is handled between catch and the dinner plate can make a huge difference. The best tuna that I have ever consumed was raw ahi served within minutes of coming on deck. Same for seared or fully cooked. Here in southern California most of the sport fishing party boats have saltwater brine tanks that keep the fish near the freezing point of fresh water until returning to the dock. Fish stored this way is usually much superior to fish kept in a fish box, cooler, or wet burlap sack. Most of the tuna I consume is locally caught during mid summer through early fall and the forage base is usually the same from year to year. It would certainly make sense to me that the type of forage would affect the flesh of the fish just as it does for cattle (grass vs corn) or trout ( pellets vs natural foods).

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