Northwest Fishing Reports

Ok - I've been noticing these worm things in a fair amount of my salmon. Those thin whiteish/clear 1 inch to 3 inch worms. Either inside the meat or belly of the fish.

Now, when I see these I have recently been just tossing the fish because I have heard they can make you sick unless you first freeze your fish to kill these "worms". When I see them, I want nothing to do with the meat, so I just toss it.

My guess is I have been eating these things for many, many years anyways! I've only been checking my fillets for about 3 years now since I first noticed these "worms". I have never gotten sick before, but I always freeze my fish before eating.

Can anybody confirm if these things are bad for humans? Can they live inside us? Will we get sick if eaten?

thanks guys....

The worms are probably anisakis, very commmon in all salmon. We are a dead end host to the worm. They can cause a digestive reaction when they try to escape from your digestive track.

Or cooking them. Never eat raw (unprocessed fish).

PS sorry, no they shouldn't bother you a bit. I'd really be surprised if most everyone on the forum hasn't eaten worms in fish.

If they are these worms, WDFW says they are safe to eat.

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/disease ... apioca.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I quit eating worms when I was about 3, so I toss anything I see with ANY kind of parasite/worms or use it for crab bait.

The tapioca parasite is a myxozoan parasite, not a worm. Anisakis is a nematode. Two very different parasites.

Its not tapioca im finding, its the anisakis worm...

I'm not picky about the parasites I DON'T eat ;)

nothing that a hot grill couldn't cure

Shad_Eating_Grin wrote:nothing that a hot grill couldn't cure

Exactly, as I said, if you've eaten wild salmon, you've eaten worms. It's that easy. Always freeze or cook your fish before you eat. If you're freezing it -120 for 12hr.

I've heard there are lots of worms or whatever in Halibut and Ling. Maybe those 2 types wouldn't taste as good without the worms. LOL. They say the average person eats a few spiders each week without knowing it. Also, a few (25) pieces of insect parts are allowed in a can of tuna. Fun huh.

Regarding all this worm "stuff">> Tons in larger halibut and cod and salmon it's just a fact! Spend considerable time in Alaska in the summer and am grateful for that vac-pac machine and that blast freezer at the place that processes my fish Wife a bit off on fish now since she wanted some of that prized first of the season fresh sockeye this Spring. You should have seen the face she made when she pulled a 2" worm from that cooked fish> Priceless