That sounds like the makings of a very smelly garden. While your fish is vacuum packed and sealed and stinkless now, it won't be for very long in the garden. I'm new to composting, but from what I understand meats tend to decompose very slowly and require a lot of heat in addition to time in order to decompose properly; I can't imagine what it would be like buried in the garden where there is no oxygen to stimulate the aerobic respiration needed and little organic matter to balance out the nitrogen in the fish bits. Additionally, you might run into the problem of your garden suddenly attracting an assortment of pests rooting through the soil to get at the fish goodies underneath.

I'm thinking that you would be better off establishing a compost pile and then throwing the fish in there. I'm a garden n00b, though, so I'd take this issue up with the guys in the compost section and see what they have to say on the matter.

I wouldn't do it.
A couple yards of fish smelling soil would drive the critters crazy digging around trying to find the motherlode.

You shouldn't keep more fish than you can eat.
At least give it away before it's not eddible.
There are lots of soup kitchens,church groups, food banks etc. you could have donated it to.
Even if it's not the freshest they will be glad to take it.As long as it's not spoiled.(Some give you a reciet for it's value for tax purposes.)
Bring a batch to your local cop shop,firestation or whatever before it's messed up.
Yellowtails my favorite,what a waste.
Fertilizing a garden-discusting.

Thanks for the input. If I were to do it I would not go overboard with it. I would only do a little bit and mix it up extremely good. I will have to see if it will drive my dogs crazy.

SMOKEMASTER: I am the first one to throw em back and out of about 1000lbs. of fillets I may have 10 left that I have not eaten or given away. BTW, this is David from WCA.
Did you ever get rid of the smoker?

Still looking for a home for it-the smoker.
I need the room for plants.I'm up to 243 varieties 16 more comming in soon.LOL
You should come by for some of my double sprouts.

I also thaught your post was from someone who was emptying their freezer or something.
I know you and know you don't waste fish.

It might be ok to put it in your yard.
The dogs would probably keep the critters out.

Your dogs might all of a suddenly dig a lot.

Put it in the dirt a while before you want to plant.
Let the dogs do the rototilling this year.When they are done digging and give up you'll have nice soil to plant in.

I'll probably be hanging around the kitchen at WCA.
I got fired at CMan.LOL

I think I still have your phone # somewhere,pretty sure I do.
I'll give you a call in the next few days about the smoker or you can call me or stop by.
I noticed your posting name a while back and was wondering about who it might be.It was familiar for some reason.

Go figure,the one time I get on somebody about something it's someone I know ...Come over for a homebrew.LOL

I have buried fish carcasses for years in my garden areas, usually deeper than 18", and have never had any problems with animals digging them up. I believe that the decomposition will aid in enriching the soil. TiMo

That may be a bad idea. Your garden will smell for miles and it may harm the soil and plants. You should look further into this and do some research. Dead fish will seep through the seal and cause damage to the soil.

we've used fish in the garden many times burying it in the tomato or pepper bed. It enriches the soil, we've never had any animals dig them up. The plants will love it.

"Your garden will smell for miles and it may harm the soil and plants."

LOL, no it won't. I have my raised beds less than two feet from my living room and have put dozens of fish in the soil. Unless you are a cadaver dog, you couldn't smell it if you put your nose six inches from the soil. As far as "harming the soil".....ever heard of fish emulsion? It doesn't harm the soil, it enriches it.

i'll tell you what i've done with salmon carcasses after processing 5 or 10, just dig a hole and cover them with a foot of ground cover or so and maybe throw some boards or something over the area., the next spring you will have tons of worms giving you some good return.... granted, being that salmon time is in the autumn, this is the perfect time of year to do this since its fallow thru the winter....and oh yeah, don't forget to add that sparged grain into your soil, or just mulch with it---good day and good fishing---bob---used to fish with nets, now cane pole

When fish break down it adds nitrogen to the soil. Corn need a heavy dose of nitrogen to grow. Plant the fish about 6" under the seeds and use chicken wire on top of soil to keep critters from digging it up. =)

Absolutely !! Use the fish guts,bones,skin,scales, ALL of it!! Works excellent-fresh or aged, I know from experience.It helps growth,promotes blossom's,promotes sturdy healthy durable plant & or veggies. You'll see, if haven't already.Crossman & Daisy sell quality (BB/pellet)air & co2 pistols & rifles,& they'll deter the poeple's Loose running uncared for pest's, good luck freind, pkapp,

Fish is an awesome fertilizer! I've been using it for years. Lately I have been making fish hydrolysate rather than just using fish carcasses. Advantages are that it's completely scentless, full of beneficial microbes, keeps on the shelf for along time so I can use it repetitively, and it's liquid so I mix with water and use as fertilizer or in compost tea or whatever. You can make it really easily, there's a guy Gil Carandang who has a recipe I follow to make it. Ill post the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fish fertilizer

Don't do it if you have dogs. I had a Kuvasz pull down a whole shelf of flats (about 8) cos he smelled the fish. Then, a couple of years ago I had a Kuvasz puppy dig up ALL of my peppers because I put powdered milk in the holes before I buried them. She pulled up every single pepper and ate the milk flavored dirt. I quit using fish emulsion just cos I was too worried watching the dogs line up waiting for me to leave the greenhouse.
Pam

Ever consider getting dogs that aren't insane?

[g,d&r]

hahaha! well, my Border Collies are a lot less psychotic than my Kuvs. ;-)

My dogs are used to the smell of Neptune's fish fertilizer,they haven't caused and problems yet when I use it on my plants.Of course my dogs are around me all day and they know what they can and should not be doing...

haha, you definitely don't have Kuvaszok. my bc's are perfect, pretty much 100% of the time. Kuvaszok on the other hand have had around 7000 years of working on their own with very little human interaction, they are extremely independent and make their own decisions. Can be maddening as hell. They don't need you to tell them what needs to be done (well, and the girl who dug up the pepper plants to eat the milk was under a year old, so... puppies, not dependable, she's good now). Someone once asked me to explain a Kuv and my husband immediately, "they are like cats, they will take your suggestion under consideration and get back to you."
Pam

I've planted lots of veggie plants in a hole with fish heads, guts, and scales. Works fine. Supposedly, native Americans taught that to the first European settlers.

A dog can smell 500 times stronger than humans... one of my dogs vets told me this a couple weeks ago. Think about dogs that bury bones... they likely remember where they buried it due to their noses plus having memory recall. Squirrels usually forget where they buried nuts... I assume their don't smell very well.

Bears can smell from very far away..... a foot of dirt won't stop their senses. Geesh... if they can smell a human woman menstruating from over a mile away.....

Opossums only stick to one area for a few days unless a female just gave birth. They may stick around longer by about a week if plenty of food is around. This partially explains why they live short lives. And they are not able to carry rabies... they aren't an animal to fear and is rare to bite.

Raccoons will go for it. Although they are cute looking.... not too much of a wanted garden helper.

Wolves and coyotes... panthers etc... surely they could smell it and might try to get it.

I lived in the mountains for a couple years.... bear, coyotes and panthers.... all of it except for wolves. Just basing on simple knowledge and experience. You don't want to attract them especially if you have kids and small pets. I had to chase off a black panther one night after living in my back yard for years... sucker got too hungry and desperate. He/she never returned. All I had to do was chase it and scream and sent a strong energy signal it must leave. I don't use guns. I am part Cherokee.

It was trying to attack an abandoned cat I took care of and she had kittens.... I built a fort for them to live in and dumbly lent them a $500 rug that they pissed all over. Loving me... did the best I could give at the moment for them to be warm and comfortable. Basing on that.. would of given an expensive blanket instead. I know now.

But I have a 10 pound dog.... I never could leave her alone outside even if I ran inside for a minute.

After every rain fall the panthers prints were all over my driveway.... after I chased it off basically risking my life... no prints since nor had I ever heard it again. They do strange calls when very hungry... sounds similar to a human baby crying... it's pretty creepy sounding. I never enjoyed hearing it. They do this trying to fool meat eating animals to think an animal is injured or trapped.... then they arrive and the panther attack.
They will NOT hesitate to eat human kids and small dogs... but are very afraid of adult humans.... yet are still prone to attack. Mountain lions will attack anything basically.

I know this is sort of O/T... maybe somebody is interested in reading this info.

PS.... it basically measures up to the dogs DNA make-up... some dogs are major diggers.... even with breeds that have a full history of digging... they might not be into doing it so much or seldom..... you pretty much have to base it on the last 6 generations... mind you you have the mother and father side to consider... and some "flukes". I was born with an accent... very rare for humans... it's my DNA from one of my breeds.