Best way to dispose of fish carcasses?

[jtpeters]

On weekends, I enjoy catching and filleting a large mess of bluegill for frying. The problem is that the guts and carcasses head south rather quickly, and I found it is a big mistake to throw them in the garbage when trash day is not until the next Friday. What do people do? Should I bury them instead?

[TomDel]

I save those cheap plastic bags that you get at the supermarket and convenience stores and use them for any perishable garbage. The nice thing about them is that they have those loop handles. I hang one on a cabinet or drawer pull when I’m prepping or cleaning up and use it as garbage bowl. For fish or chicken, I’d use at least two, maybe even three to be safe. Use a tie wrap to seal the first one, place it into the second and seal it with another tie wrap or simply tie the top shut. I’ve left bags like this in the trash container in the garage for three or four days without any problems or detectable odor.

[mpalmer6c]

Why not make more room in the freezer? Otherwise, put in a couple of plastic trash bags, or three or four (they come in a variety of sizes and are cheap).

[sarah galvin]

Personally, I would freeze them. Nice to have organic fertilizer but I would worry about attracting pests and then the pests decide to invite themselves into the house. That would be disgusting.

[shallots]

Under the 'bury them' catagory, find a neighbor who is an organic gardener and swap your fertilizer for great fruit and vegetables.
Your local county extension agent might find such gardeners if you don't know any.

[Den]

I've never used blue carcasses for it but could you use them for fish stock? That would pretty much remove everything from the bones.

[jtpeters]

I could try this. I make a lot of chicken stock. Should fish for fish stock be descaled or can I just throw the whole thing in the pot after I cut out my fillets?

[soupkitten]

use the heads, tails and spine/bones, but discard all the organs and guts, including cutting away the gills, which will taint the stock. so you'll still have some guts to get rid of!

[jecolicious]

put the carcasses in the pressure cooker with some rendered out aromatics and fill 2/3 to the top with water. I found it makes the best fish stock, I'd scale them first since the scales come off after cooking and you'd have to strain an additional 2-3 times just to get the pulverinzed scales out.

[jtpeters]

Sounds good. Thanks for the tips.

[ipsedixit]

Yes, bury them (esp. if you have DO NOT have stray cats in the neighborhood).

They are great fertilizers for fruit trees, esp. stone fruits like peaches and apricots.

[grant.cook]

Do you have a neighbor that you distinctly don't like?

[davmar77]

buy a cat,a big one. :-)

[Veggo]

davmar77, This sounds like a household - unlimited weekly fish- where kittens become fat cats, and the livin' is good, in about a year!

[Veggo]

Freeze them until Friday morning.

[ms. clicquot]

I agree with freezing them. Any time I have something like that I wrap it well and put it in the freezer, taking it out just before the garbage collection.

[jtpeters]

Not a bad idea, but my freezer real estate is in high demand.

[Veggo]

Hey, at least you have options. Shovel. Neighbors. Cats. Another freezer. Take the pain.
My hot tub is suddenly leaking 40 gallons a day, and I'm baffled.

[jtpeters]

Sorry, I had no idea...