Parasites in fish?

[yajsab]

How do you deal with parasites in fish you caught? Years ago I caught some flounders and saw parasites on some fish. It freaked me out and I tossed them. My friends told me that salmon have parasites too but I haven't seen it myself. Recently, I did surf perch fishing and caught some. When I cleaned the fishes some has very dark worms about 1+ inch on the skin and in the meat. I still have the fish in the freezer but it is freaking me out. Do you guy just get rid of the worm and cook the meat or what do you do?

[j_h_nimrod]

If I can cut them out I don't worr about it. Cook it all well, just like bear.

[Mfowl]

Lots of bigger ling cod and rock fish will have nasty worms in the meat. I have found them in halibut too. I have caught salmon in the saltwater that had belly's full of stringy nasty worms wriggling all over. I always cut the worms out of the fish fillets  but don't discard the meat.

[BigGoonTuna]

i caught a springer this year that was full of tapioca cysts.  caught quite a few coho over the years but this was my first ever chinook with them.  ended up tossing the meat, the fillets would've looked like swiss cheese if i had tried to cut them out

lots of bottomfish have worms, i've actually had them come crawling out of surf perch fillets.  i try to get rid of what i can, and not think about the rest...

[Stein]

If it swims in the ocean, it probably has something living in it.  Most people don't notice or don't look close enough.  I don't think there is anything in fish that can live in a human, so I just chow away unless it is something really crazy.

[DOUBLELUNG]

If I can see it, I cut it out.  I expect wild caught fish will have parasites, if I can't see them I don't worry.  It's an aesthetics rather than health issue. 

Approximately 100% of wild deer and elk also have parasite cysts in the meat, some you can see and cut out, the rest are microscopic.  Some of them (not most) can be a human health issue, so I don't eat deer or elk sushi or blue rare.

[Buckewe]

i caught a springer this year that was full of tapioca cysts.  caught quite a few coho over the years but this was my first ever chinook with them.  ended up tossing the meat, the fillets would've looked like swiss cheese if i had tried to cut them out

lots of bottomfish have worms, i've actually had them come crawling out of surf perch fillets.  i try to get rid of what i can, and not think about the rest...

I was told the white cysts were cancer when I worked at a cannery. I have seen all sorts of weird stuff in fish. Albacore have tons of tapeworms, it is safe to eat when cooked  just gross when you know what it is.

[NRA4LIFE]

Rockfish have been the worst for me.  When I got one like that, I sliced the meat maybe a 1/2" thick and I could see them and dig them out and cook.  They are quite a bit darker than the meat.

[Miles]

Approximately 100%

  Almost sounds like terminology the Clinton campaign may have used.

[Night goat]

commercial fisherman input


currently trolling out of sitka, which means all of our coho are cleaned, was doing copper river sockeye for a bit too, which are also cleaned.....

we gut em, and scrape the bugs out, and sell em. id say 15% of the fish have then, the more apex the predator, the more likely they are to have em, cod fish are just packed full of worms, halibut can be infested, they pretty much all have em, not every fish of course, but easilly 15% some worse than others, but, its the ugly side of seafood.

you don't necessarily have to cook the crap out of your fish, honestly, if concerned you can, but, generally two weeks in a freezer takes care of that.

a popular misconception about sushi is that its fresh fish, when in reality, sushi was originally a way to use up old fish, so, if concerned about consuming raw fish, as long its been frozen for an extended period, tis fine

that in mind... I am very picky about my fish, because im in the industry and know all the dirty secrets

[DOUBLELUNG]

Approximately 100%

  Almost sounds like terminology the Clinton campaign may have used.

I t depends what your definition of terminology is 

[Buckewe]

commercial fisherman input


currently trolling out of sitka, which means all of our coho are cleaned, was doing copper river sockeye for a bit too, which are also cleaned.....

we gut em, and scrape the bugs out, and sell em. id say 15% of the fish have then, the more apex the predator, the more likely they are to have em, cod fish are just packed full of worms, halibut can be infested, they pretty much all have em, not every fish of course, but easilly 15% some worse than others, but, its the ugly side of seafood.

you don't necessarily have to cook the crap out of your fish, honestly, if concerned you can, but, generally two weeks in a freezer takes care of that.

a popular misconception about sushi is that its fresh fish, when in reality, sushi was originally a way to use up old fish, so, if concerned about consuming raw fish, as long its been frozen for an extended period, tis fine

that in mind... I am very picky about my fish, because im in the industry and know all the dirty secrets

Tuna can be frozen for 2 years and still be legally soled as "fresh"

[yajsab]

Thanks all.  I took a few surf perch out from the freezer after a week.  When I filleted them there were worms inside the meat.  I removed all the ones I could see.  They were all dead but just loosing my appetite.