Is it normal for fish to have worms

Symptoms of anisakiasis are abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distention, diarrhea, blood and mucus in stool, and mild fever, the CDC says. The life cycle of an anisakid nematode begins when seals or sea lions eat infected fish, according to Seafood Health Facts. The larval nematodes grow to maturity, and the marine mammal then excretes the nematode eggs into the sea where they hatch.

Shrimp-like animals eat the larvae, and fish eat the shrimp. The larvae then develop into the form we see in fish.

Fish like trout and salmon that spend all or part of their life in freshwater might carry diphyllobothrium tapeworm larvae. These "small, whitish, and somewhat flabby" worms are common in salmon from some areas of Alaska, Seafood Health Facts states. The life cycle for a tapeworm is similar. Mammals or birds eat infected fish, and the eggs hatch in freshwater. Crustaceans eat the eggs, freshwater and anadromous fish eat the crustaceans, and then humans eat the fish.

Parasites do not present a health concern in thoroughly cooked fish. By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses. Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments. Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines.

Comments are welcome while open. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. Join the conversation Create account. Already have an account? Canada You're probably eating worms and don't even realize it Wormy fish may not sound appetizing, but parasitic worms in fish are far more common than you might think. Social Sharing. Stomach worms from raw fish bought in Calgary believed to be 1st of its kind in Canada.

Khalil Akhtar Food Columnist. She also worries about the quality of life for the fish, including "the space they're kept in, the way they're treated. It would be sad to lose the traditions—and the quality, too.

If we moved from wild fish to farmed fish, or even only served frozen fish, the fish purveyor suspects, "we would lose the quality of fresh seafood. The texture and the taste of fresh fish is better. Even when I freeze it myself, it doesn't taste as good as when it was fresh. I talked with the chef who served my food-writer friend her wormy bass.

I promised to keep the chef anonymous. He had already reimbursed my friend for her meal, and was moderately apologetic, but worries about losing wild fish from Oregon menus. Of course," he said. Ultimately, he is resigned to whatever the health department requires. Parasites such as nematodes have been shown to increase in fish as the water gets warmer.

Where the purveyor fishes at this time of the year, the water is normally 52 degrees. Chef Roadhouse is optimistic. He thinks whether the balance tips towards wild or farmed, frozen or fresh, that "you evolve and it makes you better. And I don't really worry about them, it just makes me more innovative as a fisherman.

Still, this may be an issue that's more about squeamishness than safety. Of the 20, cases of nematode infection from eating fish reported globally, over 90 percent of them are in Japan. It's estimated there are only 60 cases annually reported in the United States.

By comparison, there are approximately 20 million cases of norovirus in the United States each year, leading to over deaths. Sign In Create Account. This story is over 5 years old.