Thursday 16 October 2014

Ray and skate off the menu for many.

Skate & Ray ban - ICES Areas VI & VII shaded yellow

The full extent on the ray and skate ban which came into force last Friday is seen here - from the French coast in the South East all the way out to west of Rockall in the North West.  Ray is one of the fish likely to cause real problems for fishermen operating in mixed fisheries as a choke species.  Many skippers are waiting for further news and clarification from the MMO who introduced the end of ray and skate fishing in ICES areas VI and VII - rumour has it that the ban will be in place until the end of the year - which will mean many tons of ray and skate being discarded in these areas as the fish are found all over fishing grounds.

Two ray wings cut into four feed the family!

Rays are a great fish for kids and fussy eaters as the 'bones' are in fact just cartilage and the meat just comes away easily after lightly frying or poaching - check out the classic Breton ray in black butter dish 

Nathan Outlaw's latest book Fish Kitchen has some simple ray and skate dishes to try - if you can get some fresh ray or skate fished from the east coast!