First of all, I know Ricky. He is italian, from Rome, like my parents and we spent a couple of vacations together in Venezuela. The pictures Dan posted are from last year. He went there afer visiting my family in Venezuela. He is married to an Holguinera. I will invite him to join the forum. He's got a lot of photos and stories. He is one of the moderators of one of the most known spearfishing forums in Italy; Apneamagazine.
Then, I have to say that both Sabalo and Chucho (spotted eagle ray) are edible. The key is how to prepare/cook them. Here in Puerto Rico (illegally), tarpon is "transformed" into "Chapín" to be sold in "Empanadillas". In Venezuela what they do is hitting them with a Coca cola 2 liters bottle until the flesh becomes soft and then open like a hole near the tail and use the bottle to squeeze the flesh through that hole. It is used both for empanadas or for "mojito" (pescado guisado), which is different from your drink.
With the chucho, there is a delicacy called, "Pastel de Chucho", which is pretty much like boricuan "pastelón", changing grounded meat with "mojito".
I speared a couple of tarpoons in Venezuela (They were legal in competitions!), but it was too much work to properly clean them. I gave them away and people was gratefull to me.
I also speared some rays there and, I have to say it, can feed 4 families with good quality meat. Neither of them is what we can call a "game" fish, but both are good eating. :;
A couple of pictures of Ricky during his last visit to Venezuela:
PS: Wearing speedos is "legal" in Venezuela and barracudas are good eating as well. No ciguatera at all... :rolleyes1: