Northern Australian Shark: Avoiding tough flesh

The texture of two species of northern Australian shark is mainly effected by the bioIogy of the fish. One species, Carcharhinus sorrah, requires higher energy to shear a sample of its cooked flesh than does the other, C. tilstoni. Male shark are firmer than females and shark with a fork length larger than 85 cm were tough. Of the combination of sex and species group, only male C. sorrah were tough. Further definition of groupings also identified female C. sorrah larger than 85 cm fork length and male C .tilstoni larger than 85 cm fork length as being tough. A manual of best practice was drawn up from the results of a range of experiments. Best practice recommended for processing shark was: 1. kill, bleed and gut immediately after catch 2. keep trunks cool until rigor has set, but not longer 3. store trunks in refrigerated seawater (RSW) for up to 12 hours 4. then freeze trunks or fillets 5. shark should not be frozen prerigor or kept on deck till postrigor.