Zach’s Story
When I first started spearfishing, I was so focused on the free diving and hunting aspects of the process, that I didn’t really think about what happened after I actually got my hands on the fish. I had a respect for the ocean, and knew how serious taking a life was, but I didn’t have the skills or knowledge to do much more than take two fillets off a fish and pan fry them. I remember how daunting it was the first couple of times I filleted a fish, and how messy it was! At that time, I never bled or gutted my fish in the water because I was scared the sharks would come. This, in turn, created a cutting board full of blood and guts, not to mention horrible meat quality that didn’t last very long.
The more time I spent in the ocean, the more comfortable I became, and the more fish I brought home, the more proficient I got at breaking them down. As time went on, I met a dive buddy that changed how I thought about the fish, and everything else I harvested from the ocean. I started to realize that the process to achieve the best meat quality started before the fish ever went in the cooler, and really before I ever even pulled the trigger. I started trying to put myself in the best possible position to get a stone shot, or a shot that would allow me to put the fish out quickly. I did this to be ethical, but also to achieve better meat quality. Braining, bleeding, gutting, and in some cases scaling, every fish, became routine. Properly breaking down and storing fish, allowed my harvest to last longer than I ever thought possible. I realized that I didn’t need to be a chef to make incredible sushi rolls, ceviche and other delicious meals! Still, most of what I was doing was wasting parts of the fish that I knew people out there were doing more with. I knew I had to change something.
Upon researching ideas of how to use more of the fish, I kept seeing the word, “sustainability.” I wasn’t a big fan of that term and I felt like nobody truly knew what was sustainable in terms of the ocean. Was it staying within the regulations set by federal and local law? Was it setting personal limits based on what I saw when I went out? Was any of the data I was being told, actually accurate? To tell you the truth, I had no idea, and I wasn’t going to pretend like I did. I knew I couldn’t control what other people did, how many fish they took, or what they did with them. As a spearo, however, I could control what I did, how many fish I took, and what I did with them.
This is when the term, “utilization,” came to mind. I always had the mindset of, “only take what I need,” in the back of my mind when I was out there spearfishing. Soon, however, what “I needed” or “what I thought I needed,” rather, drastically changed. I started taking the collars off all my fish, and grilling them. I started making broths for ramen from the fish carcasses that I would usually just throw away. I started using the lobster knuckles for mini-lobster cakes and using the lobster heads to make stocks. I started grilling the backbones and ribs from bigger fish to share with friends and family. As time went on I became more comfortable in the kitchen and I finally felt like I wasn’t wasting fish anymore.
At the time, I was running a marina store in the Florida Keys and right in front of the store was a fillet table that everyone used. I had a perfect view of it from the store, and day after day, I saw firsthand how much fish people wasted. I knew I couldn’t control what people did, but I could control what I did. I started taking the time to try and educate as many people as I could. I showed them things like how to take the collars off their fish, and that lobsters are more than just their tail meat. Some people were receptive, but most just thought I was crazy. I remember one guy told me, “I’m not that hungry,” when I showed him how to take the collars off. Every now and then, though, I would see somebody I talked to and they would tell me how they grilled some snapper collars or the backbone of a big yellow jack. That was always nice to hear.
I started to question why people weren’t receptive, and didn’t care as much as I did. I knew there were people out there that thought like I did and cared like I did; because I knew some personally. This is where the term, “normalize,” came to mind. I realized that using more of the fish, really wasn’t a normalized behavior, and going up to random people at fillet tables wasn’t going to change that. I knew I needed to do more, and with that, Spearos Kitchen was born.
Spearos Kitchen
I want Spearos Kitchen to be a place where people from all over the world can come together and share their passion for spearfishing and cooking. I want it to be a FREE, centralized resource, where people can come get and share new ideas; whether they’re a seasoned spearo or a complete beginner. I want it to be a place where spearos can host their recipes to share with their friends, family, and social media followers. I want it to be a place that everyone can benefit from and feel like they’re part of a community. Most importantly, though, I want Spearos Kitchen to be a place where we can normalize USING MORE, and create incredible food in the process.
