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Bluefish
Recipes

• The bluefish is a favorite among recreational fishermen because it puts up such a spirited fight once it has been hooked. In fact, this fast-moving fish is just all-around fierce. An encounter between bluefish and any of the various fish that make up their diet is likely to result in a wild feeding frenzy. The bluefish have impressive, sharp teeth, which they use to tear apart their prey. For some reason, they do not always stop killing when their hunger pangs have eased but continue to attack, leaving uneaten meat floating in the water as they swim on. (Sea birds often follow schools of bluefish, hoping to scavenge the scraps of just such an event.) As a result, bluefish are often called "chompers," with the juveniles receiving the correspondingly tamer nickname "snappers."
• Not surprisingly, considering their eating habits, bluefish need very strong digestive enzymes to process the food they gorge themselves on. They should be gutted and cleaned as soon as possible after they are caught, because those digestive chemicals can cause the fish to spoil.
• Bluefish migrate in large schools along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Argentina (and are also common on the other side of the Atlantic). Following the warmer weather, they move north in the spring and south in the fall. Occasionally a fisherman will haul in a bluefish weighing over 25 pounds, but most are between 4 and 10 pounds.
• Although bluefish are popular with sportsmen, they aren't always as big a hit once they get to the table. Bluefish meat is dark, oily, and assertively flavored (some say "fishy"). However, for those who find the taste too strong, there are a couple of things that can be done to balance it and which may even make you into a devotee. First, the fish doesn't freeze well, so use it as soon as possible after purchase. Remove the dark strip that runs lengthwise along the fillet. It tends to have a bitter flavor that diffuses through the fish during cooking. Then, choose dishes that call for the fish to be marinated in acidic blends and then baked, smoked, or grilled. Citrus, ginger, wine, tomatoes -- all are among the flavors that work well with bluefish.

Pacific Salmon
Recipes

• Salmon are born in freshwater and migrate downstream to the ocean, where they spend most of their adulthood. Then, when the time comes to reproduce, they journey back to the same river where they began to lay their eggs. All the Pacific salmon differ from their relative, the Atlantic salmon, in that they spawn only once and die shortly thereafter. Atlantic salmon may travel back and forth from ocean to freshwater as many as four times.
• Like many fish native to the west coast of North America, salmon populations have been threatened by overfishing and construction. Attempts to reestablish the species require increased oversight of the amounts harvested, which affects their seasonal availability. Chinook salmon are now available farm-raised. However, it is difficult to provide appropriate living conditions for ocean-going fish, and the other varieties have not adapted as successfully. Whenever possible, farmers have compromised by raising the young fish (or fry) in hatcheries and releasing them into the wild. Pacific salmon have also been introduced into the rivers around Lake Michigan, where they are thriving, at least in numbers sufficient for the recreational fishing that predominates there.
• Chinook salmon are also called king, spring, tyee, and quinnat salmon. They are the largest of all salmons, and from time to time, someone catches one that weighs more than 100 pounds. These impressive fish are capable of swimming upstream for thousands of miles to return to the riverbeds where they were born. In their ocean habitat, however, they tend to stay closer to shore than the other Pacific salmons, so Chinooks can be caught year-round -- as long as fishing regulations allow it.
• Chum, also known as keta, calico, or dog salmon, has comparatively pale, mild-flavored meat that has low oil content for a salmon. Chum are not farm-raised, so you are assured that when you find them at the market they will have a good wild flavor.
• Coho salmon, also known as silver salmon, are at the center of a population restoration initiative in California. They are unlikely to be available outside of local markets, because their season is so carefully regulated.
• Pink salmon are the most plentiful of the Pacific species. They are sometimes called humpback salmon because of the distinctive hump that forms on the male when it begins to travel upstream in spawning season. They are comparatively small, never growing larger than 6 pounds.
• Sockeye salmon are renowned for their orange-red, richly flavored meat, which is popular both fresh and canned. The landlocked, freshwater form of sockeye is known as kokanee. Like most freshwater fish, it does not grow as large or develop as complex a flavor as its seafaring kin.
• Silver skinned, velvety textured salmon is particularly high in vitamins A and B and Omega-3 fatty acids. Any method of preparation works well, as long as the flavors of the ingredients are not so strong as to mask the buttery, perfumy quality of the fish. Look for it grilled and infused with the flavor of hickory, drizzled with mild creamy sauces like hollandaise, or seasoned with dill, watercress, tarragon, or other fresh herb.

Yellowfin Tuna
Recipes

• Yellowfin tuna, also known as ahi, are found in the eastern Pacific and tropical Atlantic waters. They are extremely important commercial fish in the United States, where they are eaten fresh and -- especially -- canned. Yellowfin are used for "chunk light" tuna (if the can is labeled "white chunk," it contains the slightly more expensive albacore).
• Because they have an affinity for dolphins and often swim with them, it used to be common practice for commerical fishermen to look for dolphins (who cavort at the surface, while the yellowfin swim below) and cast their tuna nets accordingly. When it was revealed how many dolphin were drowned in this process, the general public, as well as environmentalists, were outraged. In 1990 a widespread consumer boycott influenced the government to enact legislation requiring changed fishing methods, and this has led to significantly fewer dolphin deaths. However, problems remain, even though most tuna on the supermarket shelves are now labelled "dolphin-safe." The legislation does not apply to fishermen from other countries, who resist US efforts to impose their environmental laws worldwide. And some scientists warn that, although dolphin deaths have dropped, other marine populations (such as sharks, who do not inspire as much public sympathy as the cute dolphins) are threatened by the new netting techniques. The safest fishing methods involve using fishing lines instead of nets. Those who are concerned should buy tuna that was caught by longlining.
• With their bright yellow fins and smooth blue-black body, yellowfin are spectacular looking fish, all the more so because they grow to be quite large. It is not unusual for a yellowfin tuna to weigh 300 pounds.
• Yellowfin tuna is as firm and meaty as swordfish. It is deep red when raw (as sushi lovers know) and cooking causes it to turn pinkish ivory. Any preparation is appropriate for tuna, especially searing, grilling or broiling. And it can stand up to assertive sauces or ingredients like those used in salade nicoise.