Mackerel is one of those small, oily fish that never seems to inspire American palates no matter how much conservation types exhort eating lower on the food chain. But part of the population has caught on -- in prisons, mackerel is money. Literally. The Wall Street Journal reports that after smoking bans drove cigarettes out of prisons, inmates had to come up with a new local currency. Stamps, PowerBars, and cans of tuna all barter well, but mackerel is king. Prison demand for mackerel packs has increased over the last four years, though apparently prisoners don't want to actually eat the fish either.People, do not fear the mackerel. Check out Paul Johnson's "Fish Forever" for some great mackerel recipes. After all, without mackerel, there would be no mackin'.
Thanks to the indomitable Pesco for the tip Tweet
5 comments:
So tell us, what do the prisoners do with the mackerel packs?
Really curious about this one.
No smokes in prison, shit, that would have been a bloody difficult transition, no doubt increased aggression and incidents due to it, would also make smokes a black market item increasing their value immensely, anyone thinking there are no banned substances in prison is dreaming.
As for the mackerel, perhaps they're after all that Omega 3 to increase brain function as well as driving down cholesterol and eliminating hypertension.
But I doubt it.
Any system based on barter in prison has a secondary gain, working in one and having been there for over 7 years I can attest to that, being that mackerel has such a high oil content I could drop a few ideas re its use and versitility.
The cons don't eat them.They are not the tastiest,so,what is the
hook that mackeral has on the
prisoners.
Not the brainiest of fish.I remember pulling one after another
aboard while dinghy fishing in
Loch Craignish.Nghtime with just
a spinner.Like to see them alive
nowadays. Kenny8
to echo earlier comments: what do they use them for?!?
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