INTERVIEW: Dave Carraro of ‘Wicked Tuna’ has never eaten seafood — never
Photo: Dave Carraro, middle, is a fan favorite on Wicked Tuna, and he also appeared on Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks. Photo courtesy of Nat Geo / Provided by press rep with permission.
Dave Carraro, one of the stars of Nat Geo’s Wicked Tuna, has a few confessions for his fans. One of them is quite surprising: The angler who has taken down many mega bluefin tuna on the reality series has never had a bite of tuna. In fact, he’s never eaten a piece of seafood in his life. Even though he lives and breathes the open ocean on a daily basis, he prefers meat and desserts.
Carraro, captain and owner of the F/V-Tuna.com boat, recently talked with Hollywood Soapbox in anticipation of the show’s new season, which premieres Sunday, Feb. 21 at 9 p.m. on the network. Here’s what he had to say.
On whether he ever hesitates to say yes to a new season of episodes:
We’re all an immediate yes, absolutely.
On whether he watches Wicked Tuna:
I would say I’ve watched about 90 percent of the episodes, and the other 10 percent I haven’t watched because probably I was just busy doing something else. But, yes, I do watch the majority of the episodes, as does the rest of my family.
On what it feels like to compete with other anglers:
Everybody wants to see everybody catch fish. Everybody wants to see everybody be successful; however, each boat, each crew member wants to be the top boat regardless.
On the patience that is needed to find big tuna:
As I tell a lot of the viewers, if you saw what we did 90 percent of the time, that’s what they showed, you would never watch the program. You’re viewing those highlights, the exciting moments. It requires a lot of patience, a lot of waiting, but when you do get the bite, you do have the battle and you do have the kill, it’s definitely very exciting. Each fish I catch, I always say, it looks like my first one. That honeymoon never goes away. It’s definitely one of the, if not the, most exciting species of fish to catch, the giant bluefin tuna. It’s a magnificent fish.
On what happens to the fish after they haul it on board:
After we catch the fish, we’ll bring it on board. We’ll dress it out. We’ll take all the guts out. We’ll ice it down. If we do have a charter, which we do plenty of them, lots of pictures are taken. When we do bring the fish back, we go to our specific buyer, whoever that may be, and they give us the price of the fish depending on the quality of the fish. And the supply and demand dictates how much we get, and then the majority of the fish go to Japan. And then they go on market over there. A good majority also stay here in the United States. They go on the domestic market. They’ll go to New York, Boston or California. Those are the three dominant markets.
On whether he’s ever tasted bluefin tuna:
I’m 55 years old, shortly to turn 56, and I’ve never eaten a piece of seafood in my entire life. I can’t answer that question. I have no idea what it tastes like. No seafood, none whatsoever. Chicken, beef and vegetables, that’s as far as it goes — and of course my sweets. I have a sweet tooth, but no I’ve been commercial fishing, recreational fishing since I’ve been a little kid and I’ve never eaten a piece.
On whether he’s feeling the pain of a long day at sea:
At the moment, it has not caught up with me yet. I feel like I’m still as energetic now as I was when I was a younger teenager, so still healthy, still going strong, and hopefully I can keep doing this for quite some time longer.
On what it’s like to live in Gloucester, Massachusetts:
I absolutely love it up here. This summer will be my 24th year up here. It’s a very small community. It’s a tight-knit community. Gloucester was basically founded on fish. Everyone here, both in the community and the fishing community, pretty much knows each other. Everyone here will help one another. It’s just a fantastic place to live, and it’s even better to fish from here. It’s very small, and I can’t imagine myself being anyplace else.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Wicked Tuna, featuring Dave Carraro, premieres Sunday, Feb. 21 at 9 p.m. on Nat Geo. Click here for more information.
The lack of curiosity as to what the meat that he catches and which retails for $80/lb in Japan bothers me. So you know you like steak and vegetables…. thats it? how do you know if you never tried it. The scraps that they cut off at the dock would make a nice, healthy dinner for 5.
I am not buying it.