Cod Worms!

[northsea]

Hi all, just caught a few cod and the biggest was full of cod worms!

There must have been 12 or so in the fillets.

I understand this is a fairly common thing caused by parasites.

As it happens before I started fishing a couple of blokes said they were using cod fillets as lobster bait because the wife said they were full of worms also. Seems perhaps this is a bad area for them.

My question is, if they do not harm the quality of the fillet is there a effective method of making sure you get them all out? Or do you tend to simply chuck them away?

 

 

Any help on this subject greatly appreciated.

[corydoras]

Hi all, just caught a few cod and the biggest was full of cod worms!

There must have been 12 or so in the fillets.

I understand this is a fairly common thing caused by parasites.

As it happens before I started fishing a couple of blokes said they were using cod fillets as lobster bait because the wife said they were full of worms also. Seems perhaps this is a bad area for them.

My question is, if they do not harm the quality of the fillet is there a effective method of making sure you get them all out? Or do you tend to simply chuck them away?

 

 

Any help on this subject greatly appreciated.

I for one will not eat cod. If the fish is well cooked, then the worms will be dead, and though they don't look very nice they are mostly harmless. Eating raw or undercooked cod increases the risk of catching anisakiasis, the condition that humans develop when they have live cod-worms in their system. You can read more about anisakiasis. The risk of being ill after eating cod is small, but I prefer to abstain. Edited August 4, 2008 by corydoras

[ColinW]

So far, I've only ever found them in the guts, not in the fillets. I don't eat fresh cod as I think it has a better texture after it has been frozen and apparently freezing for three days is enough to kill the worms. If you do eat it fresh, raising their temperature up to 60 deg for one minute will also kill them. Since we usually overcook fish in this country (according to the TV "experts") I don't think it's something we need worry about too much, although I do remember reading that someone claimed to have found a live worm in a fillet from their local chippy!

[corydoras]

So far, I've only ever found them in the guts, not in the fillets. I don't eat fresh cod as I think it has a better texture after it has been frozen and apparently freezing for three days is enough to kill the worms. If you do eat it fresh, raising their temperature up to 60 deg for one minute will also kill them. Since we usually overcook fish in this country (according to the TV "experts") I don't think it's something we need worry about too much, although I do remember reading that someone claimed to have found a live worm in a fillet from their local chippy!

Freezing or cooking will kill the worms, but will do nothing for the toxins that they leave behind in the flesh. If you are allergic to the toxin you could have an anaphylaxic shock, which can be fatal. The risk is small, but it is not zero.

[Deepseacodmaster]

I don't think it's something we need worry about too much, although I do remember reading that someone claimed to have found a live worm in a fillet from their local chippy!

 

Most of the Chippies on the North East Coast very rarely sold cod and chips!!!!

It was nearly always Haddock and chips.

The reason for this was that the coastal population knew about the cod worms, while the inshore population (landlubbers) did not.

 

Folklore has it that the cod fillets with worms had to have them removed with worm punches, which was time consuming and costly, it also left the fillets with unsightly holes in them.

So in the 1950's, Birds Eye opened a factory in Yarmouth, and the cod mainly from the north sea was processed into Fish Fingers.

These were and still are very popular with the public, and also with the processors who did not have to remove the worms because the process killed them and the composition of the Fingers hid the remains.

 

The problems with the worms also affected herrings, and because they were pickled and not cooked the worms entered humans causing various symptoms from initial vomiting and diarrhea, to crone like problems after a few weeks of digesting them when they started to live in the human gut.

 

However fish fingers made from herrings did not catch on so we sold most of the catches to our EU neighbors.

 

I eat lots of cod but if I am steaming it I always use it after freezing, and any fresh cod is always well cooked.

 

[northsea]

Most of the Chippies on the North East Coast very rarely sold cod and chips!!!!

It was nearly always Haddock and chips.

The reason for this was that the coastal population knew about the cod worms, while the inshore population (landlubbers) did not.

 

Folklore has it that the cod fillets with worms had to have them removed with worm punches, which was time consuming and costly, it also left the fillets with unsightly holes in them.

So in the 1950's, Birds Eye opened a factory in Yarmouth, and the cod mainly from the north sea was processed into Fish Fingers.

These were and still are very popular with the public, and also with the processors who did not have to remove the worms because the process killed them and the composition of the Fingers hid the remains.

 

The problems with the worms also affected herrings, and because they were pickled and not cooked the worms entered humans causing various symptoms from initial vomiting and diarrhea, to crone like problems after a few weeks of digesting them when they started to live in the human gut.

 

However fish fingers made from herrings did not catch on so we sold most of the catches to our EU neighbors.

 

I eat lots of cod but if I am steaming it I always use it after freezing, and any fresh cod is always well cooked.

 

 

Thank you for the replies all.

That is very interesting about fish fingers.

I'm guessing this is something birdseye would have wanted to keep quiet.

 

Would you say cod worms can be more of a problem in certain parts of the coast or are the pretty much everywhere?

[KRYSB]

Thank you for the replies all.

That is very interesting about fish fingers.

I'm guessing this is something birdseye would have wanted to keep quiet.

 

Would you say cod worms can be more of a problem in certain parts of the coast or are the pretty much everywhere?

 

 

id say they are pretty muich everywhere, its not just cod

try gutting mackeral , whiting , pollock, ling

some of the mackeral weve had this year have balls of worms in the gut

apparantly the worms move throught the belly cavity post mortem?? into the fillets, where they are easy to spot as they have a browny tint to them

i always knock em on the head to stun them 1st, then bleed em out to keep the fillets clean, then gut within 15mins of capture

when filleted,just pick em out with the point of a knife and carry on as above posts regarding freezing etc

 

the area i fish is east coast

but have had worms all over the south coast as well as the north west

 

krysb

Edited August 5, 2008 by KRYSB

[northsea]

id say they are pretty muich everywhere, its not just cod

try gutting mackeral , whiting , pollock, ling

some of the mackeral weve had this year have balls of worms in the gut

apparantly the worms move throught the belly cavity post mortem?? into the fillets, where they are easy to spot as they have a browny tint to them

i always knock em on the head to stun them 1st, then bleed em out to keep the fillets clean, then gut within 15mins of capture

when filleted,just pick em out with the point of a knife and carry on as above posts regarding freezing etc

 

the area i fish is east coast

but have had worms all over the south coast as well as the north west

 

krysb

Very, very interesting this krysb. Thanks for you reply here.

It is true, I do recall finding worms in mackerel and pollack but this is the first time actually in the fillet.

I think you have a valid point about gutting them soon after the catch.

I'm very interested in the point you make about "bleeding them out".

How exactly to do do this and in what way does this keep the fillet clean?

Sorry about my ignorance here.

[Deepseacodmaster]

id say they are pretty muich everywhere, its not just cod

try gutting mackeral , whiting , pollock, ling

some of the mackeral weve had this year have balls of worms in the gut

krysb

 

I often eat fresh mackerel fillets, caught, filleted, washed in sea water and eaten uncooked.

Delicious! but I always check out for worms first!

Cod livers similarly, far better than the commercial cod liver oil.

However this action does cause some anglers on the boat to ground bait (throw up)

[corydoras]

I often eat fresh mackerel fillets, caught, filleted, washed in sea water and eaten uncooked.

Delicious! but I always check out for worms first!

Cod livers similarly, far better than the commercial cod liver oil.

However this action does cause some anglers on the boat to ground bait (throw up)

Like codmaster, where i come from folks just don't eat wormy cod. The fish for fish and chips is a haddie to me.