Worms in My Fish

I fished Government Point yesterday and brought home some nice size Black Rock fish. Before cooking them up I noticed something different with the meat that I initially thought were blood lines. I Here are some pics of what I pulled out and then later found many more after after closely inspecting. Does anyone know what the hell these parasites are?
Needless to say, these never made it to my plate...

I find worms in all species of fih. Most fish carry a parasite load we just don't notice it most of the time. If you cook your fish well, freeze for a substantial period of time, or soak in acid (lemon/lime juice) for sufficient time you will be okay.

If you have ever seen a fresh marlin cut open you would never eat it again. A lot of them are wormier than old mushrooms.

They give the meat that extra fiber! 

very common, next time just hold fillets up to light, will help seeing worms as dark spots, pick worms out fillets with point of knife, good to go.

They're commonly called cod worms.  Impossible to avoid in PNW bottom fish.  And I include halibut in that category.  Even the commercially caught fish has them, they just do a really good job of picking them out before you buy it.

They're commonly called cod worms.  Impossible to avoid in PNW bottom fish.  And I include halibut in that category.  Even the commercially caught fish has them, they just do a really good job of picking them out before you buy it.

Actually, Halibut apparently do not get worms very often.  My Halibut had exactly zero of them, so I asked Fungunnin, and he confirmed that it's rare to see worms in Halibut.

That said, you're gonna have worms in every other bottom fish, and if you didn't have them before, you just didn't see them.  Cook your fish and they're harmless, just don't tell the wife and kids about them.

They're commonly called cod worms.  Impossible to avoid in PNW bottom fish.  And I include halibut in that category.  Even the commercially caught fish has them, they just do a really good job of picking them out before you buy it.

Actually, Halibut apparently do not get worms very often.  My Halibut had exactly zero of them, so I asked Fungunnin, and he confirmed that it's rare to see worms in Halibut.

That said, you're gonna have worms in every other bottom fish, and if you didn't have them before, you just didn't see them.  Cook your fish and they're harmless, just don't tell the wife and kids about them.

I don't agree.  I see worms in Halibut more often than not.  However, they do seem to be more limited to the belly area (and a lot of them at that!), but you don't see them in the quarters that often.

Not much I like more than sashimi halibut in the field, but if I see any in the bellies, I don't eat it sashimi style.

-Allen

Okay so the research says these "Terranova decipiens" live in the stomach of seals, as they can live in the stomachs of humans. Bottom line is to thoroughly cook these fish or take your chances getting a parasite. References below in the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisakis

http://www.cooksinfo.com/fish-worms

Hugh Yakman

Reminds me of this thread.
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=5895.0

I like finding big cabies full of worms! I carefully fillet them, with attention to ensure none of the worms are removed. Then I pack them up and freeze them like all the rest of my fish, but I mark an X with a sharpie in the top corner.
Any time the irritating moochy neighbor asks how fishing was and if they can get some fish, I smile and say "No problem!"
For some reason it only takes one or two times of special deliveries for them to stop asking.

I like finding big cabies full of worms! I carefully fillet them, with attention to ensure none of the worms are removed. Then I pack them up and freeze them like all the rest of my fish, but I mark an X with a sharpie in the top corner.
Any time the irritating moochy neighbor asks how fishing was and if they can get some fish, I smile and say "No problem!"
For some reason it only takes one or two times of special deliveries for them to stop asking.

Your mean ! But that is freaking hilarious. 

Last time I filleted a load of sea bass I noticed that only the largest fish had worms.  For that reason I only keep the smaller fish.  I know that they aren't bad for you but just can't bring myself to eating them.

You'll get desensitized to the worms after a while.

I don't even think about it anymore.  I just make candling fillets a standard part of cleaning.

That said, I recently found an isopod playing hide and seek in a greenlings gills last week.  If you've ever seen the movie "The Bay" you know why that made me suddenly queezy.....



-Spot-

Gnarly

That movie The Bay gave me nightmares!!

 

Just pick the visible worms out and cook well or freeze before eating.

No biggie.

 

Sincerely,

Jim