Fish – Am I overcooking whitebait in water by using scum as a measure for doneness

Disagree with the umami analysis from @Carmi, even if it was a good attempt. You have some basic facts wrong though.

• Cooked tomato sauce is high in umami, and is often combined with mushrooms, however, a sauce with mushrooms would not take parmigiano (also extremely high in umami)
• Mozarella is high in umami, like most fresh young cheeses. So is tuna.
• Caesar salad has both anchovies and parmigiano (both high in umami).

But you are sort of on the right track. Baked fish in Italy is not strong in flavor. It's delicate and calls for the following: fresh lemon. That's it. Maybe some fresh parsley. Usually cooked with no herbs and served with no sauce. The fish should be extremely fresh and appreciated for it's delicate flavor. Something like parmigiano would easily overpower the taste of the fresh fish and by putting it on fish you are telling the cook "this is fish gone bad and I need to cover the taste with something". Or if it was served that way, maybe better to avoid it because what is the cook trying to hide? While there I never encountered a fish dish served with cheese.

Being a curious foodie and having lived in Italy for 5 years, I can also add the following:

• There are a LOT of rules that might seem strange to an outsider. No cappuccino after 10am. You don't mix salty and sweet in the same dish, or even during the same course. Beer with pizza, not wine. You would never drink coffee before or during desert, it's served after.
• While I was there I did a lot of thinking about the basis of some of these rules and concluded it's usually either 1) health, 2) taste, or 3) regional cultural rules.
• I asked the fish and cheese question a few times. The answer was always "That's gross, you just don't put cheese on fish". My guess is this one falls under 2 and 3.

The health angle from @Walter I think has a lot of validity in general. Italians often complain of their liver hurting after eating especially 'heavy' meals. Heavy meaning something very specific in Italian: difficult to digest. So a fresh salad with too much raw garlic could be considered heavy because garlic sometimes causes indigestion. A huge chunk of parmigiano is not considered heavy because parmigiano is very digestable. My guess is some of the rules come out of the particulars of the Italian digestive system. Much like you will not find many Asians joining me when I chug my glass of milk.

It's best to grill small whole fish, like striped bass or snapper, because the general rule about grilling fish is to do it quickly. Start by cutting 3 deep slashes across the top of each fish, and rub in any spice mixture or lemon zest, etc. that you are using to flavor the fish. Salt the fish lightly both inside and out. Medium-high heat is the best level of grill heat, which means you can hold your hand palm-down an inch or so above the grate for 3-4 seconds without it burning. According to the Jamisons' "Born to Grill", the hand test measures the temperature of the actual grilling surface, not just the air inside the grill. Make sure the grate is well-oiled, so the fish will not stick. Put the fish on the grill, with the tails away from the hottest part, so they don't burn. Cook 8-10 minutes per inch (not per lb.) of fish, but only 6-8 minutes for tuna and salmon or they will overcook. Add 2 more minutes per inch when cooking in foil or banana leaves. It's best to check for doneness by flaking the fish with a fork.