Johnson's study, the team will develop 

 educational materials about un- 

 derutilized species. The materials — 

 brochures, a cookbook and slide 

 shows — will dispel misconceptions and 

 teach anglers how to clean, prepare 

 and cook these neglected species. 



Johnson says education will be the 

 key to getting recreational fishermen 

 to target underutilized species. "Often 

 we found that people didn't deal with 

 these fish because they didn't know 

 anything about them," he says. 

 Education can help here. And since 

 many of the misconceptions about un- 

 derutilized species are based on 

 heresay rather than experience, educa- 

 tion can go a long way to alleviate 

 those problems, too. 



"Amberjack isn't targeted because 

 fishermen say they have worms, and 

 they sometimes do. But lots of 

 preferred fishes have worms. You can 

 cut them out." When amberjack is 

 fried the day it's caught, it tastes like 

 grouper — a highly sought fish. 



Amberjack is gaining acceptance in 

 West Florida, where it is served in a 

 few restaurants. And information 

 about the species' thick fillets and 

 white, firm meat may gain amberjack 

 a place on more sportsmen's plates. 



But amberjack isn't the only shun- 

 ned fish to share common charac- 



teristics with valued species. Johnson 

 says many non-traditional fish share 

 good and bad qualities with their 

 favored cousins. In Texas, redfish, a 

 prized fish, shares almost every postive 

 and negative trait with the ignored 

 black drum and sheepshead. In North 

 Carolina, small, overlooked species 

 such as pinfish and pigfish are very 

 similar to sought-after croaker and 

 spot. 



Likewise, Johnson says a fisher- 

 man's rejection of a species often is 

 based on one or two negative aspects. 

 Frequently underutilized species 

 possess as many, or more, positive 

 characteristics. For example, shark 

 takes extra preparation time, but its 

 meat yields thick fillets that have few 

 bones. And the darker meat of tuna 

 and bonito make them excellent fish 

 for chowders and smoking. 



Murray and Johnson plan to stress 

 these common characteristics and 

 positive qualities as they urge anglers 

 to target spurned species. They plan 

 to: 



— develop six to eight brochures 

 describing how to clean and prepare 

 non-traditional species. 



— encourage fishing tournament 

 organizers to add underutilized species 

 to their prize lists. The Scotts Hill 

 King Mackerel Tournament is plan- 



ning to offer prizes for amberjack this 

 year. 



— organize an underutilized species 

 cookbook for anglers. 



— provide training programs for Sea 

 Grant marine advisory agents in the 

 Southeast. 



— develop a slide-tape show for 

 sportfishing clubs. Sea Grant programs 

 and fisheries managers. 



"The concept is not to target in- 

 dividual fishermen, but to target 

 sportfishing opinion leaders — marina 

 operators, charter and headboat cap- 

 tains, bait and tackle shop owners, pier 

 owners, outdoor writers, fishing club 

 presidents and MAS agents," says 

 Murray. "If we target these people 

 and change their opinions about these 

 species, they can spread the word." 



Murray says he and Johnson plan to 

 eventually reach 50 percent of the 

 recreational fishermen in the South- 

 east with information about these 

 neglected species. "We're not being 

 naive about this effort," he says. "We 

 don't expect everyone to know about 

 underutilized species as soon as the 

 project ends. Like any educational 

 project it will take years for the infor- 

 mation to diffuse. But we feel like we 

 will have laid enough groundwork for 

 that process to continue." 



— Kathy Hart 



Photos by Steve Wilson 



Dressing a trigger fish: 



1. Make a diagonal slice behind 

 gill. 



2. Run knife along backbone of 

 fish, beginning at slit and 

 working toward tail. 



3. Cut away rib bones from fillet. 



4. Skin the fillet. 



5. White meat fillet. 



