Striped bass – stripers, in the vernacular – seem to have a certain association with summer, though they’re really a year-round fish. Either way, it’s worth sorting out the Connecticut confusogram of stripers.
For starters – there’s been a statute on the books for a long time here that prohibits commercial fishing of striped bass. So if your fish store says “local striped bass” – it may be close, like New York or Massachusetts, but it’s not Connecticut.
But – Connecticut commercial fishermen can, with the proper licenses and all that jazz, fish stripers in non-Connecticut waters and bring them back here. So the fisherman can be local.
And – sport fishing of stripers is permitted, but that’s for personal consumption, not sale.
Stripers, however, have had a health issue for a number of years – namely PCBs – those now-banned cancer-causing industrial compounds that were dumped in waterways all over the east coast. Those nice big striped bass just soaked the PCBs in as a predator eating the stuff that ate the other stuff that ate even more stuff that ate the worm contaminated with PCBs.
The way Dave Simpson, the director of Marine Fisheries for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection explains it: “Each level gets more concentrated.
“The bigger they are, the higher they are in food chain, the more they tend concentrate contaminants.”
In the last month or so, there’s been some good news on that front. Connecticut, along with six other states, has loosened its health recommendation on how often to eat striped bass (and bluefish). Based on a review of data from 2008, the state Department of Public Health recommends that non-risk groups can safely eat striped bass once a month. That is actually more frequent than the old once-every-two-months recommendation.
Non-risk groups would be everyone except, children, pregnant women, nursing mothers – and you might want to add in the elderly.
Simpson suggests to lessen the PCB risk even further, cut away the dark part of the fish, which is fattier – and fat is where PCBs cluster. Or cook it in a way that the fat drips out, namely grilling.
Striped bass tends to be a thickly-cut, moist fish that can stand up to a grill without drying out, falling apart or otherwise becoming – oh you know, fishy. You can just grill it plain with a touch of oil and pepper, or use a marinade although that may keep it from getting a nice crust, if that’s what you prefer.
I prefer a sweet and spicy rub I make with a secret hot chile mixture from New Mexico. Failing that you can concoct or buy whatever you want: a Southwestern mix of dried chile and herbs; a curry; a North African mix of cumin, paprika, turmeric and cayenne; a jerk mixture – all would work.
Grilled Striped Bass
½-1 cup light brown sugar (not dark – it burns, sticks and makes a mess)
Spice mixture to taste
Canola oil
1 pound striped bass cut in 2 pieces
In a flat glass pan like a small baking dish, mix brown sugar and spice mixture. Add canola oil just to moisten slightly. It should not be runny. Dredge meat portions of fish in mixture, covering it thickly. Let sit about 10 minutes. Grill on oiled, heated grill, adding more mixture if needed. Fish should make a nice crust with a moist interior. 2 servings.