4-164. Isolated persons must know how to prepare fish and game for cooking and storage in a survival situation. Improper cleaning or storage can result in inedible fish or game. Do not eat fish that appears spoiled. Cooking does not ensure that spoiled fish will be edible. Signs of spoilage include—
- Sunken eyes.
- Peculiar odor.
- Suspicious color. (Gills should be red to pink; scales should be a pronounced shade of gray, not faded.)
- Dents that stay in the fish’s flesh after pressed with a thumb.
- Slimy, rather than moist or wet, body.
- Sharp or peppery taste.
4-165. Eating spoiled or rotten fish may cause diarrhea, nausea, cramps, vomiting, itching, paralysis, or a metallic taste in the mouth. These symptoms appear suddenly, one to six hours after eating. Induce vomiting if symptoms appear.
4-166. Fish spoils quickly after death, especially on a hot day. Prepare fish for eating as soon as possible after catching it. Cut out the gills and the large blood vessels that lie near the spine. Gut fish that are more than 4 inches long. Scale or skin the fish.
4-167. A whole fish can be impaled on a stick and cooked over an open fire. However, boiling the fish with the skin on is the best way to get the most food value. The fats and oil are under the skin and, by boiling, the juices can be saved for broth. Any of the methods used to cook plant food may also be used to cook fish. Pack fish into a ball of clay and bury it in the coals of a fire until the clay hardens. Break open the clay ball to get to the cooked fish. Fish is done when the meat flakes off. If fish is kept for later consumption, smoke or fry it. To prepare fish for smoking, cut off the head and remove the backbone.
Mollusks
4-168. The mollusk class includes octopuses and freshwater and saltwater shellfish such as snails, clams, mussels, bivalves, barnacles, periwinkles, chitons, and sea urchins. Bivalves, similar to our freshwater mussel and terrestrial and aquatic snails, may be found worldwide under all water conditions. River snails or periwinkles are plentiful in rivers, streams, and lakes of northern coniferous forests. These snails may be pencil point or globular in shape. In fresh water, look for mollusks in the shallows, especially in water with a sandy or muddy bottom. Look for the narrow trails they leave in the mud or for the dark elliptical slit of their open valves. Near the sea, look in the tidal pools and the wet sand. Rocks along beaches or extending as reefs into deeper water often bear clinging shellfish. Snails and limpets cling to rocks and seaweed from the low water mark upward. Large snails, called chitons, adhere tightly to rocks above the surf line. Snails are a good source of calcium, magnesium and vitamin C. Ensure snails are cooked thoroughly. Mussels usually form dense colonies in rock pools, on logs, or at the base of boulders. Steam, boil or bake mollusks in the shell. They make excellent stews in combination with greens and tubers (see figure 4-33 on page 4-44).
CAUTION
Mussels may be poisonous in tropical areas during the summers. If a noticeable red tide has occurred within 72 hours, do not eat any fish or shellfish from that water source.
4-169. Do not eat shellfish not covered by water at high tide.
Crustaceans
4-170. Freshwater shrimp range in size from 1/16 inch up to 1 inch. They can form rather large colonies in mats of floating algae or in mud bottoms of ponds and lakes.
4-171. Crayfish are akin to marine lobsters and crabs. Their hard exoskeleton and five pairs of legs—the front pair having oversized pincers—can distinguish them. Crayfish are active at night, but can be located in the daytime by looking under and around stones in streams. They can also be found by looking in the soft mud near the chimney-like breathing holes of their nests. Crayfish can be caught by tying bits of offal or internal organs to a string. When the crayfish grabs the bait, pull it to shore before it has a chance to release the bait.
4-172. Saltwater lobsters, crabs, and shrimp can be found from the surf’s edge out to water 33 feet deep. Shrimp may come to a light at night where they can be scooped up with a net. Lobsters and crabs can be caught with a baited trap or a baited hook. Crabs will come to bait placed at the edge of the surf where they can be trapped or netted. Lobsters and crabs are nocturnal and most easily caught at night.
WARNING
All freshwater crustaceans, mollusks, and fish must be cooked. Fresh water tends to harbor many dangerous organisms, animal and human contaminants, and possibly agricultural and industrial pollutants.
Next Page : Chapter 5 – Fire