Methanol (MeOH) extraction by AOAC Official Method 996.07 has resulted in low amine recoveries in fresh fish tissue. Addition of 25% 0.4 M HCl to the 75% methanol-water extraction solvent resulted in higher recoveries of putrescine and cadaverine. Average putrescine recovery increased from 55 to 92% in flounder, scup, bluefish, and salmon; from 92 to 98% in mackerel; and from 83 to 107% in processed mackerel. Average cadaverine recovery increased from 57 to 95% in flounder, scup, bluefish, and salmon; from 91 to 97% in mackerel; and from 92 to 108% in processed mackerel. Fish stored on ice for 12 days also showed differences between background concentrations determined with the two solvents. However, the values decreased with storage time, indicating that degradation of the protein matrix may cause more comparable measurements between the two solvents. However, consistently higher putrescine and cadaverine measurements were determined using MeOH-HCl. Although significant differences in the extraction of amines from the high-fat fish tissue were not seen between MeOH and MeOH-HCl, it would be ideal to have one solvent for biogenic amine extraction. This study confirms that MeOH-HCl is a better solvent for complete extraction and recovery of putrescine and cadaverine in fresh and processed fish tissues.