Hungry dine on shark in Long Beach

Gourmet treat is a big hit, thanks to reality show winners.

By Karen Robes, Staff Writer - 08/31/2006

LONG BEACH - Mike Hardwick has sampled shark before, but never at the Long Beach Rescue Mission. But there it was, a piece of grilled Mako steaming on his plate. Hardwick, who has been on the street since being laid off in 2000, took a bite and grinned.

"Very, very tasty," he said. "It's sweet, it doesn't taste fishy at all. Something like this, like a gourmet type of meal, it's a blessing."

Thursday's unusual meal came courtesy of Steve Quinlan of Long Beach and Brad de la Cruz of Marina del Rey, the winners the Outdoor Life Network's reality-television competition, "Shark Hunters."

They donated the 820-pound Mako shark and other shark meat they caught to feed about 160 people in need at the Long Beach Rescue Mission, 1335 Pacific Ave.

"I feel like a fisherman," Quinlan said. "I don't feel like I'm killing some big prey and then having it go to waste. This is actually the first time tonight that I got to see people eat it, see it served up. ... I feel really good about what we're doing." The men caught the shark last week on the four-part series that pitted the top qualifiers from the East and West Coasts against each other.

They were among the 11 teams competing over four days of fishing.

Quinlan and de la Cruz caught the fish on Day 3 about 50-60 miles off East Coast waters. Ten minutes before they were required to stop fishing for the day, the 820-pound Mako came toward them.

"It came in just like a submarine," de la Cruz said.

The big catch, which took hours to reel in and bring to shore, will be able to provide two nice meals a month all year long for 140 people.

This isn't the fist time the shelter has served shark. De la Cruz contacted the mission more than a year ago, offering donations of shark meat they've caught.

"It is a very popular meal with our guests," said Jesse Krohmer of Long Beach Rescue Mission. "It goes a long way. It's nice for us to have guys who have a passion and use that passion for something like catching shark to do something meaningful with it."

It is significant to a mission that serves 105,000 meals a year on a small budget.

"This is a big donation and this is indicative of what people can do," said CEO Jim Lewis.

The shark meat, cut up and stored in the freezer earlier this week, sat in lemon herb marinade for nearly five hours before it was grilled behind the mission. The aroma permeated the neighborhood.

Workers started filling the plates with grilled shark, rice, green beans, cucumber salad and fruit salad as the dinner guests filtered into the room.

"It tastes like chicken," one man joked as he picked up the meat with one hand and chomped on it.

"It's really good," said diner Rachelle Rubalcava. "I've never had shark before. It's something different."

"Being able to see our hard work go out there and actually see it go to good use, to actually feed thousands, it's a good feeling," de la Cruz said.

Raquel Hermosillo, with her three children in tow, carried out a bag of leftover shark.

"It was excellent," she said. "It was the first time. It's the best we've ever had."

"I didn't know it was shark!" said her son, Alfred Chavez, 6. "I thought it was fish."

And now that you know?

Alfred paused. "It's good."


>> BACK TO MAIN NEWS DIRECTORY