Eating Queen angels, Niger triggers etc (Maui Ocean Center)
 

I'm in Maui right now staying with a friend. We're going to go spear fishing later this week. He says that queen angels an Niger triggers are very tasty. I met this friend from the reef hobby in Edmonton before he permanently moved here 6 years ago. So he knows the retail prices of these fish. Can't wait :). Yum.

Mmmmmm.... expensive pretty fish! I don't know if I could do it... lol.

Have fun on Maui man! I'm jealous!

:eek: :yuck: :der:

fish are friends not food.

Fish are friends and food.

Tuna sandwich anyone?

Ugly fish are food... pretty fish are friends! Tuna will suffice as ugly... although I don't really like fish to begin with. As food that is.

I've eaten mantis shrimp. now that's tasty food!

I prefer mantis over lobster any day

Yes, much tastier. And cheaper too :)

Triggers go nuts for oatmeal flakes, What I do when I snorkel there on Maui is I get a plastic bottle half full of flakes and squeeze it once in a while. The oatmeal is mach better then bread. And yes triggers are yummy on BBQ.
BTW when fish see the spear they fly away quickly, much easier to get them by regular fishing, we used meet and squid for bait.

My friend is going to take me lobster catching at night too. I can't wait. I just want to try the spear fishing for the experience. Don't really expect to catch anything.

ummmm i was at red lobster last night.....they didnt have any trigger:(:(

I caught a trumpet fish and ate it tonight. My first time trying spear fishing today. I almost caught a goat fish too. Speared it but it got away on me. The trumpet fish was so yummy. BBQ'd it with garlic butter and rice. My friend speared a huge tuna and it struggled so hard that it broke his line and then got away. The line isn't just a thin fishing line, it looks like rope. Man, I was looking forward to eating that. The spear I was using had no line, just a hand held one.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/PA110039.jpg

Sweet! That must have been so much fun! How much longer are you down there for?

For the record... I'm STILL very jealous! lol

when i was in jamaica last march i went spearfishing for lionfish. Thats a really good tasting fish!!

So you just snorkel around and jab that manually with your hand? Nothing shoots? I have no clue about fishing in this manner but looks like fun!

My wife and I rented some scuba gear and a friend lent us a "Hawaiian Sling" which is this spear with a rubber band that hooks to your thumb. The range is only about 2 to 3 feet so it's kinda tough, but a whole lot of fun and tasty.

I think just about everything and anything is on an Asian menu. If you get the chance Dez, try out a couple of clams, I heard that maxi's are very tasty. Mantis and lobster are equally as tasty. Obviously I am not picky when it cones to sea food. This body is built to eat.:mrgreen:

Btw I am Asian so it's okay.:wink:

Wow, we went diving today just off of a campground and look what we came across. It's a Hawaiian Monk Seal. It's very endangered and there are less than 1300 left according to the sign. You're supposed to call a 1800 number if you even have a sighting of one.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/PA120029.jpg

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/PA120033.jpg

We watched it for about 10-15 mins, then we left and it followed us for another 30 -40 yards until we hit the reef. It was amazing.

Then when we hit the reef I caught 4 more fish :) Yummy. Triggers (and one butterfly)
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/PA120045.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/IMG_3138.jpg

And here is what's left of it. The trigger meat was really great, almost the texture of a land animal cause the flesh wasn't flaky. The butterfly had a great flavour and the meat flaked off really nicely.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/IMG_3149.jpg

While staying in the Philippines near the beach fishermen would come over trying to sell their catch. Sort of strange that these were some of the poorer people around yet in flopping around in the bottom of their boats would be hundreds of dollars or more of fish (retail over here).

Once we bought an Emperor Angelfish close to a foot long for a couple of bucks which I ended up letting go. Wife wasn't impressed since was to be her breakfast.

Poor helpless fish.:sad:

Ya, thats what I was thinking. I'm kind of surprised nobody else has said anything considering the audience here...:neutral:

WOW that's one pretty trigger! Shame about the spear sticking out of its gut..

I would eat 'em! It seems so strange to see a plate of Butterflyfish and Triggerfish remains, but definitely interesting to see! Thanks for sharing! :)

I kept thinking about the price tags of these fish, but this is what the locals do. They hunt the fish and they eat it. There are species that you aren't allowed to hunt (one of them being tangs). But there are no regulations about collecting for the aquarium trade. We went on a tour today where they were trying to get everyone on the tour to sign a petition about the collection for aquariums. Let's face it, our aquarium hobby is selfish and takes way more fish out of the ocean than the local people hunting for food. Probably more than 80% of the fish in our hobby should remain in the ocean. I am enjoying experiencing a lot of the local traditions and what they do. Many would say "poor helpless fish" to a fish that gets bagged and starved for shipping halfway around the world so that it most likely will die from mis-care from 1/2 the people and newbies in our hobby. I'm sorry if I offended anyone :wink:

I'm not offended, I already know I'm selfish because the wife told me so!

I've never heard anyone look at that salmon on the BBQ and feel bad for the fish....:)

I'm not offended. Mostly I'm jealous! I love seafood but my Queen Angel cost me $200 so that would be an expensive culinary experiment :lol:

I'm not offended by eating the fish, same as I'm not offended by eating a cow. However, it is comments like these that makes the looming Hawaiian fish collection ban a reality. It is easier to argue against collection than for it, so if you like having fish in your reef think about your comments! :eek:

http://reefbuilders.com/2011/10/12/h...#disqus_thread

We visited the Maui Ocean Centre yesterday. I was quite impressed. It is all based on the fish and life you'd see in the Hawaii area. It's certainly the best reef displays I've seen. Better than Vancouver Aquarium for sure. Here are a couple of pics.

This is the 750000 gal aquarium that you can dive in. There are quite a few species of sharks in here (tiger, black tip, white tip, hammerhead). It was wild. There was a tunnel that you could walk trough and a glass bottom in the tunnel.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...IMG_3215-1.jpg

With a person in one little section of the tank for size reference
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...IMG_3211-1.jpg

An octopus display. We actually saw one in the wild while snorkelling. We watched it for about 10 mins moving around and changing colours.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/IMG_3182.jpg

Frogfish display
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/IMG_3180.jpg

And the first aquarium you see when you walk through. It was probably 10 feet deep and spa still growing on the bottom. Lit with halides.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/IMG_3162.jpg

Cool!

Wow! Caley hs the rock star spot!! There's a good chance that I wouldn't be able to leave that spot without 'assistance' (force)

Looks lie a good trip bro.... enjoy!

Check out Ulua Beach.http://www.mauibeachguide.com/Ulua_Beach.html

There are loads of turtles, tangs, urchines etc.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rossmct...57623423282094
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rossmct...7623423282094/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rossmct...7623423282094/

Mile marker #14 south of Lahaina is also an excelent shallow reef with loads of SPS.