Fish Blood
Question
Why do fish require hadacha if fish blood may be consumed?
Answer
Shalom!
Thank you for your question!
There is no requirement to do “hadacha,” to wash the fish off, before eating it. In fact, it is even permitted to eat raw meat which contains blood should one wish to do so. There is no true requirement to salt it first to remove its blood. It is only if one wishes to cook meat that the meat be salted. One who enjoys raw meat may eat it after merely rinsing off any surface blood and making sure not to eat any of the blood vessels.
Back to fish. The Torah tells us (Vayikra 7:26) “You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal…” This refers strictly to birds and animals of the land. As such, the blood of kosher fish is kosher, as well. There is no requirement to salt the fish or even wash away the blood. And there is certainly no requirement to salt the fish to remove the blood within its flesh as there is by meat that one wants to cook.
Furthermore, it is even permitted to drink a glass of fish blood as long as one makes it clear to onlookers that it is fish blood that one is consuming and not any other blood (because fish blood looks similar to animal blood). The best way to do this is to put some fish skin, with the scales clearly visible in the glass of blood. This is due to the concern of “marit ayin” which is a requirement for us to take precautions so that onlookers do not think that we are breaking halacha.
Source
YD 66:9;Shach 67:1; Rabbi Akiva Eiger, YD 66:9