Northwest Fishing Reports

So, I caught 2 silvers today and BOTH had this stuff in their meat! I was bummed. What exactly is this stuff and what can anyone tell me about it? Google searches were pretty vague.

Myxozoan parasites. They are more common in salmon species that spend more time in freshwater as juveniles. The fishes body encases the parasite forming the white puss pockets. If the fish fillet is left unfrozen for 24hrs the white capsules break down releasing parasite enzymes that break the meat down extremely fast. Harmless to humans but should be frozen or cooked. Not much is known about the parasites life cycles.

curious what river you pulled the fish out of? I run into these occasionally...I cant stomach it so the fish become fertilizer.

On the cow. A couple other guys got the same that were fishing with us.

I can understand releasing the ones that have visible bumps on their skin, but mine were dime bright and smooth. No way to tell until I filleted them. How can you tell in that case??

There are two different species of parasite. The ones in the meat are myxozoan. The visible bumps are a different species. I am unsure if it is myxozoan as well. But the visible ones live only under the scales and do not get in thr meat. Sometimes the salmon can have both but most of the time they have one or the other. Cowlitz fish seem to have it bad this year. You can imagine how heartbreaking it is to fillet a 15lb springer only to find it infested.

Strange, I have never seen it in a chinook.. but many times in coho. It seems to affect wild and hatchery fish. From my observations, fish caught in the rivers of Puget Sound have had it much more than fish from Gray's harbor or the coast. I have never found a coastal fish with it. Also, I have never caught a fish out of the saltwater that had it either. Makes me wonder if the pus pockets only become visible when they get back to freshwater?

I can't say this with certainty because I am no biologist or involved with Farm studies but from those I have talked to and the reading I have done, I would not be surprised to see a link between migration routes of salmon that come within close proximity of Farm Pen Operations and the increase of this problem.

There have been studies in BC on this but I doubt that the US would allow any rights group to make wake over the subject unless an increase in pre-mortality rates were to spike and cause enough public concern.

On the Cow, I've only seen the skin bumps this year. Haven't had any of the white balls in the meat...but I have seen it in fish I've caught in Westport and the Kalama this year.

Just freeze your fillets before cooking. Which should be common practice anyways, especially in freshwater.

No real point in freezing before cooking, if you are going to cook it. I read that it is safe for humans to eat, but I am still passing. Same with the skin bump salmon. The couple that the guys caught were very "bumped" up. Those go back. Just sucks that you cant find out that it has it in the meat until you fillet them out!

I freeze all my fish for at least 48 hrs before doing anything with it.

Eh, to each their own. I can see freezing for storage, but if you cook it properly and dont just cut straight sashimi, the heat alone will kill off anything nasty. Better than freezing will But with this stuff, Freezing and cooking will not take away the visual nastiness

Its pretty hard to beat cooking up some cedar plank salmon with the days catch! Fresh as it gets!

I really don't think cooking to temp is as effective as freezing. Unless you cook the crap out of it.

Unless you under cook your food, cooking your food to the proper temp is best.

You can always add a crumble of fresh Mozzarella, blue or cottage cheese on top of the fillet. I know it won't work with all recipes but it should make it pretty hard to tell what is the pussy stuff vs cheese. Not sure I have ever done a cheesy salmon ... could be kinda good. no probably not but it's better than having a mouth full of puss.

jumpinjim wrote:You can always add a crumble of fresh Mozzarella, blue or cottage cheese on top of the fillet. I know it won't work with all recipes but it should make it pretty hard to tell what is the pussy stuff vs cheese. Not sure I have ever done a cheesy salmon ... could be kinda good. no probably not but it's better than having a mouth full of puss.

They come with cottage cheese already in them!

This thread has me rethinking my practice of "snacking" on salmon sashimi while filleting...

Interesting I've never seen it before. I don't know of any fish diseases that are transferable to humans but it still sounds gross. Cooking to temp is always good because there are bacterias that will survive freezing, and I don't think it would be transmitted horizontally through the eating of parent carcasses because carcasses are typically long gone when fry begin consuming food.