parasites and worms?

[hanapaa808]

caught a rainbow on lake stevens and noticed some parasites in the gill area. it kinda looked like sea lice..... anyone know what they are? then on the same fish, as i cut it open, there were these skinny white worms in it. the worms were not in the meat at all but where all the guts were. has anyone seen this or know what im talking about? is it still safe for eating? can anyone shed some lite on this subject so i know if i should release the fish with these parasites or kill them to try and get rid of them?? thanks

[rseas]

We had the same experience with a Lake Stevens rainbow. Actually it was pretty disgusting and in our case the worms were crawling out of the fishes gill cover while I was cleaning fish. I inspected the meat thoroughly and the worms appeared to be intestinal. Of all the fish we caught over the weekend, both rainbow and kokanee only 1 rainbow was infested.

[Amx]

Call the WDFW tomorrow and ask them. Maybe they need to fix something to kill the worms.

[hanapaa808]

thanks for the info so far... rseas, did you dispose of the fish of did you chance it and smoke it?

[rseas]

Ummmm...I think that the grandparents got it. Oh well 6 months in the freezer should kill anything.

[hanapaa808]

lol.....yeah, the worms were not in the meat at all..probably good but i think ill still call fish and wildlife and ask them for some info on those parasites/worms.

[Smalma]

We are talking about two different parasites here. The first found in the gills of the fish (also seen in the roof of the mouth and at the base of the various paired fins) is a parasitic copepod. It looks some what like a grain of rice and is attached to the skin of the fish. the copepod feeds on the fluids of the fish much like a sea lice on a salmon. It is just an external parasites is not of much concern. Unless if very heavy concentrations it does not effect the health of the fish or the edibility of the fish. This parasite is fairly common and found in a number of our local rivers and lakes, even some fairly remote waters is not associated with is generally concerned to water quality problems.

The second is an internal parasite found in the "gut" of the fish. There are many different potential spcies. The ones most commonly seen in the Stevens fish is removed when the fish is cleaned. As noted they are not found in the flesh of the fish. While they can be pretty disgusting in appearance the edibility of the fish is not effected.

As with most animals fish are affected with a number of parasites; external and internal (intestinal as well as those that are found in the flesh). It is the exceptional fish that doesn't have some sort of parasite. Of the parasites found in our local fish all but one or two (tapeworms) will not affect humans. Even those that potentially affect humans will be killed with cooking. So unless you are into sushi they should not be a health concern.

BTW -
There really is not much the state can do to control the numbers or types of parasites in our local lakes. Most of the parasites have complex life histories that typically involve multiple host species; including other fish, copepods, birds, and/or mammals.

tight lines
Curt

[hanapaa808]

curt, thanks for the great info on this subject.

[reigndawgs]

Thanks for the great information!

[racfish]

Just as a culinary side note to this. If you eat raw fish and enjoy it use both Ginger and Wasabi.The Japanese use these to kill parasites associated with certain species of fish.The ginger wasabi combo is used for this purpose.Its not for competition to see who can eat more hot foods.Thanks Smama for that info.Lk Wa rainbows and cutties have parasites also. Its not only Stevens.

[gpc]

I know some of the saltwater species (rockfish) are known to have worms or parasite in their flesh. A good way to tell is fillet the fish. Fillet so you just have meet, no skin. Then hold the fillet up to a light, and I guess you can see if the flesh has worms/parasites. But I would take Smalmas word for it, he knows his stuff.

[Shad_Eating_Grin]

it's all extra protein. cook the fish and no worries.

the fish you buy from the market will have all those parasites in them too at one point.

[hanapaa808]

thanks for all the responses. so would you say that the meat is not good for smoking?

[Smalma]

As stated by Shad Eating Grin nearly every fish (regardless of species) that I have looked at closely had parasites (as do most meats). Cooking will kill them.

Racfish - I don't think I would rely on Wasabi to kill the parasites. Much safer way to have parasite free raw fish is to freeze it to a cold temperature - 7 days at minus 4 degree F or 15 hours at minus 31 degree F. About the only raw fish that doesn't need freezing to insure safety would be the various tuna.

Hanapaa -
Cooking fish to a temperature of 140 degrees F will kill the parasites so other a cold smoke process it should not be a problem. Just a few minutes ago to took a batch of L. Stevens kokanee out the of the smoker; I smoke and consume (and share) a lot of those tasty buggers every year without problems.

Tight lines
Curt

[Matt]

I noticed last season that pretty much EVERY bottomfish (rockfish AND lings) that I bonked last year out of area 7 had visible parasites in their flesh. A lot of them were non-mobile worms that were visible but did no move although there were certainly other species that did move and wriggle around. It threw me off a bit at first but I just vacpacked them and froze them and ate all of it, still here to tell the story.

A rather disgusting experience I had last fall was with a jack king that I caught in August. I took it home straight from the river, filleted it out, and threw the whole thing into my big chief with just a quick dry brine. Came out about two hours later to check the fish to find worms protruding from the meat in several locations and swirling around still alive. I showed my roommate and we were both disgusted!!! Needless to say I let the fish finish smoking through and we toughed it out and ate it.... go figure, it still tasted great!


Matt