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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: Fish and Parasites  (Read 20592 times)

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  • WS Commander 120, OK Trident 13, Revo 13
  • Location: Creswell OR
  • Date Registered: Jan 2011
  • Posts: 804
While cleaning my catch out of the salt recently, I came upon an issue I felt that needs brought up here since we are all (at least most all of us anyway) handling, cleaning, preparing, and eating the fish we catch . I have found- and have come to educate myself- that it is common for many of our prized catch to contain codworms or "roundworms". :o What to my surprise when I found several of these critters crawling out of the meat of freshly caught Greenling- Live ones- as well as dead ones- embedded within the flesh!

One of my biggest pet-peeves when eating fish is that it is overcooked. To me its abomination to have dried out fish! If you are like me, and prefer fish on the "slightly opaque" side, or in some circumstances- RAW, there are risks and precautions one must take to prevent the transfer of parasites that are a normal occurrence in some fish. Even if you cook your fish to "Well- done-ness", anybody that is cleaning and preparing fish should be aware of what to look for. I  for one, have thrown out many "questionable" fish. But what I have learned is, what the dirty little secret of the fish market community has been doing, and its usually not throwing out fish that have worms.

I make no claim about being an expert on the matter, but felt it is worth bringing up on this forum for awareness. There are plenty of painfully heated discussions about safety in the water (cringe!), so I offer this new topic here about food safety. I found a very informative article on the net about the matter.  There's actually a lot of other good information on other topics related to cleaning and preparing fish as well.
http://www.beyondsalmon.com/2006/09/parasites-in-fish-part-1-cod-worm.html

After my latest experience with the creepy crawlies, and what I got most out of this article is that I will -from now on- use judiciously the "candling" inspection method for all the fish I catch for home consumption as well as any store bought fish I bring home.

Erik
Better to keep ones mouth shut and presumed a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
<Proverbs>


Spot

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I candle all my bottom fish after cleaning and skinning.  The worms are easy to see and easy to remove.   Occasionally you get a fish with a bunch of "flavor nodules" (round, pussy looking pockets).  These tend to be much harder to remove with any consistency.  Doesn't seem to negatively affect the remaining meat though.

Mmmmmm Flavor Nodules!

-Spot-
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  --Mark Twain

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steelheadr

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  • Peterberger Adventures
  • Location: obviously not fishing...
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If you've eaten rock fish around here, you've probably eaten a few dead worms (assuming you've cooked the fish). Since I've used local rock fish and ling cod for ceviche a number of times and lived to tell the tell, my cursory inspections of the flesh seems to be adequate. If I'm freezing the filets for later, I always looke them over and pull the visible buggers out with a pair of tweezers.

Bon Apetit...
"Fast enough to get there...but slow enough to see. Not known for predictability"  Thanks to Jimmy Buffet for describing my life...again



steelheadr

  • Participant in life...not spectator
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I candle all my bottom fish after cleaning and skinning.  The worms are easy to see and easy to remove.   Occasionally you get a fish with a bunch of "flavor nodules" (round, pussy looking pockets).  These tend to be much harder to remove with any consistency.  Doesn't seem to negatively affect the remaining meat though.

Mmmmmm Flavor Nodules!

-Spot-

did you really think you could slip this one past...
"Fast enough to get there...but slow enough to see. Not known for predictability"  Thanks to Jimmy Buffet for describing my life...again



Fungunnin

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  • Date Registered: Aug 2010
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Yup fish have worms ...... Especially bottom fish.

I have sold fresh seafood in the Seattle area for the last ten years. Picked out tons of worms.

The important part to take away from that blog is that you have to ingest a whole live work for them to affect you. That would have to be a pretty massive chunk of sashimi and if you talk to any sushi chef worth his salt he will advise you not to eat bottom fish raw.

Don't worry about them at all. If you see one in your fillet, the tell tale dark spot is a give away for those hiding a little deeper in the meat, just put the tip of your knife in the middle of their little circle and use the side of the blade to pop the little bugger out. The lively ones will curl and twist on the cutting board. Hold the fillet up to a bright light to inspect further if you like.

Then just enjoy.

If you want something that will curl your toes look up Kudoa ;)


INSAYN

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And for the wormies that get overlooked in the thicker part of the fillet, one can just lay the fillet out in a flat bowl in the fridge. 
The live ones will work their way out on their own looking for a new warm host to slip into.
 

"If I was ever stranded on a beach with only hand lotion...You're the guy I'd want with me!"   Polyangler, 2/27/15


Pelagic

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I hold each fillet up to the light as they come off the fish, anything that stands out gets removed,  I just roll with what I may have missed.  I don't eat rockfish/lings raw, but I often eat raw steelhead and salmon right out of the water (can you say on the water Springer belly Sashimi 8)), bottom fish seem to be way more wormy.  I have had to toss a handful of Salmon (never a Steelhead), mostly coastal fall fish, that have had the pus pocket "flavor nodules" Spot speaks of.  You can cut them out, which mangles the fillet as they are generally deep in the tissue or cook them intact, but they liquefy and are just plain unappetizing and seem to turn the flesh around them to mush.   I hear its on the rise due to BC fish farms??


Spot

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I had a couple of lings this year with the pus pockets.  Never seen it in bottom fish before.

-Spot-
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  --Mark Twain

Sponsors and Supporters:
Team Daiwa        Next Adventure       Kokatat Immersion Gear

Tournament Results:
2008 AOTY 1st   2008 ORC 1st  2009 AOTY 1st  2009 NA Sturgeon Derby 1st  2012 Salmon Slayride 3rd  2013 ORC 3rd  2013 NA Sturgeon Derby 2nd  2016 NA Chinook Showdown 3rd  2020 BCS 2nd   2022 BCS 1st


Fungunnin

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There are more than one type of "puss pockets" the type PP found in ling is pretty uncommon. The Salmon version is call Kudoa. It is more common on Coho and if it is really bad you can feel it through the skin. I have never caught a salmon with kudoa but I have cut many. It the really bad case I call it apple sauce disease because the meat can turn to liquid.
It is even more prevalent in BC farmed fish.

I've also see small hard knots on the skin side of some rock fish. Not sure what they are, easy to cut out.


kallitype

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I'm eating chicken tonight.
Never underestimate the ability of our policymakers to fail to devise and implement intelligent policy


Fungunnin

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I'm eating chicken tonight.

Chicken is an option .......



amb

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This came up during the ORC 2008, and I believe it was Zee that said there were much worse things allowed in hot dogs by the USDA than the worm protein found in rockfish.  I still don't like it and check over my fillets before finishing my cleaning, and remove any I find.  I also prefer my fish well cooked. Just a personal preference.


rawkfish

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Sometimes it's tough to swallow when you take a bite into a chunk of battered and fried rockfish or ling, then look down and see a little fried critter in the meat.  I just figure they've got to be rich in protein or something right?  ;D I mainly pick them out because I don't want to have to provide an explanation to the wife.  I'm not incredibly thorough though.  I do, however, make damn sure the meat is well cooked.
                
2011 Angler Of The Year
1st Place 2011 PDX Bass Yakin' Classic
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  • WS Commander 120, OK Trident 13, Revo 13
  • Location: Creswell OR
  • Date Registered: Jan 2011
  • Posts: 804
Did anyone else catch who the responsible carrier of the worms is?

 
Dang FURBAGS! AKA "seal worms"!
 :angry4:

Erik
Better to keep ones mouth shut and presumed a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
<Proverbs>


Fisherman X

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