The tarpon (Megalops Atlanticus) is quite a thrilling challenge to avid anglers. The air-breathing fish is a relatively large one that is characterized by its thick structure, silver body (especially on the back), and grayish to dark green fins.
As soon as the fish swallows the bait, the fish fights like a freight train in the water! It’s also known for its tendency to jump out of the water in acrobatic styles while resisting anglers.
After such a long fight with the fish, it might be reasonable for anglers to take their thick prize back home. But can you eat tarpon?
Although tarpons are perfectly edible, the flesh of the fish is quite smelly and full of tiny bones that need a lot of effort to pick through, so they’re typically released back in the water and rarely eaten.
Read on, if you want to know more about tarpons, what they taste like, and the best way to consume them!
Is Tarpon Edible?
The short answer to this question is yes, the tarpon is edible and is considered completely safe to eat.
This is because for any fish to be edible, it only needs to have internal parts that aren’t poisonous. Yet, this has nothing to do with the taste and or complexity of cleaning.
In other words, while you can safely eat tarpon flesh, it’s very unlikely to find people who regularly eat the fish because it has so many tiny bones that make it hard to clean and prepare for eating.
Not only that, like many saltwater fish, this bony fish also has an extremely pungent smell and a fishy taste, which makes it one of those fish where there’s a lot more trouble than there’s lean meat to consume.
For that reason, the tarpon is rarely eaten and is usually caught and released back into the water in the United States.
Some anglers, however, like to try every species of fish that they catch, and there’s a long-running tradition of eating the first safe fish that an angler catches.
If that fish happens to be a tarpon, you shouldn’t worry about its safety, as it’s completely safe to eat, despite the lengthy preparation and the underwhelming taste.
What Does Tarpon Meat Taste Like?
As previously mentioned, the tarpon isn’t quite popular among anglers who catch fish for sport and then release them back into the water.
The reason why many people don’t take their tarpon back home is that even those who really enjoy the taste of some fish and seafood find this fish a bit distasteful.
Generally speaking, the taste of the fish is not exactly sour as some people expect. However, the smell of the fishy meat is so strong that a lot of people may not tolerate it for longer than a few minutes.
Not only that, but the tedious process of picking through every bone of the fish doesn’t help in making the fish appetizing to anyone.
Of course, if you’re determined to eat the tarpon, you might want to use a lot of seasonings with the fish to mask the smell and enhance the flavor of the meat.
Will Eating Tarpon Make You Sick?
Technically speaking, tarpon’s flesh isn’t poisonous, so you shouldn’t be sick from eating it.
However, it’s always a safe practice to cook the fish thoroughly before eating it because a tarpon might accumulate toxins and unsafe deposits that bacteria and parasites may thrive on depending on where it lives.
Also, make sure that the tarpon comes from clean saltwater that doesn’t have a lot of garbage or wastes because tarpons might feed on them, which may render them unsafe for human consumption.
What is the Best Way to Eat Tarpon?
If you’re planning to give the tarpon a try, the two best ways to cook the fish is either by making tarpon fish cakes or through poaching them.
For poaching, you want to cut the fish into medium-sized fillets and bring the fish to a boil to make broth along with your favorite fish seasonings and veggies.
After that, turn the heat down to medium, and leave the fish to simmer until it’s fully cooked, which usually takes about 10 minutes. Once the fish is cooked enough to eat, take the fish out on a platter and let it cool before removing all the tiny bones in the fish.
Yet, it’s preferable to roll them in bread crumbs and leave them to cook in the oven at about 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes. Remember to cover the meat with seasonings to mask the flavor.
Things to Keep in Mind While Trying Tarpon
Now that you have a better idea about tarpon and whether you should eat it, here are some tips to keep in mind before trying them out:
- If you’re going to try tarpon for the first time, it’s always worth it to try a small sample first to decide whether you’re into the taste or not.
- Make sure that you get rid of as much fat as possible along with the fish skin before eating because it’s where most of the contaminants are stored.
- Never undercook a tarpon to avoid any unpleasant surprises. The United States Department of Health always recommends that you cook saltwater fish until they reach a minimum internal temperature of about 145 degrees F to disinfect the meat and make the bones easy to remove.
Final Thoughts
This wraps it up for today’s guide about tarpons and whether you can eat them. As you can see, you can safely eat tarpons because their flesh is not poisonous.
However, just because you can eat the fish doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to enjoy it, as the flesh has an extremely pungent smell as well as hundreds of tiny little bones that you need to remove from the flesh before you can eat it.
Yet, if you insist on trying it at least once, you can try in the form of a poached tarpon or a fishcake with seasonings to mask the fishy flavor.