Question for the marine biologists re parasites in salmon

I was talking to the shopkeep at our local Japanese market the other day and he said until recently Japanese never ate salmon as sushi because it has some special parasite that will infest humans. The government agency that sets standards for Japanese sushi made it allowable if the salmon was frozen down to a really low temperature first

In all my years fishing salmon last year was the first time I ever found worms in a salmon, and it was a cluster of them inside the cavity, nothing in the meat. I've been eating the hearts out of salmon for decades and now this guy has me wondering if I'm infested with some kind of nasty parasite. Maybe that was why I started going crosseyed last year

I always thought that the spawning salmon were more in danger of picking up parasites because they're travelling in shallower water. I guess this why tuna is safer to eat (sashimi-style) cause they live out in the deep their entire lives. Is this true? 

Pretty much ALL salmon have the nematode that cause anisakiasis.  They can be in the interior of the body or in the muscle tissue of salmon.  Many in the gut cavity will start migrating into the muscle tissue as they detect a downward spiral in the mothership. If your worried about it gutting your salmon ASAP will help.  Some have more than others, but it is not uncommon.  Cook it or cut it thin and inspect it closely.  Sake is delicious, but risky.  FYI most flatfish are loaded with the same type of nematode...cook them really well.

Check it...http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=358121

scwafish thanks for the info, I downloaded the whole article. Are you a marine biologist?

Nematodes are small, right? The ball of worms I pulled out of the salmon were the same curly ones you find in halibut

I wonder if salmon hearts are infested, I've been eating them for years. I was thinking about livers too but figure they're collecting too much nasty stuff along the way.

Are you a marine biologist?

Nope...a fisheries biologist.  My day job...http://www.scwa.ca.gov/naturalresources.html


The nemotodes of concern are the white, waxy looking ones that curl when removed. Halibut are loaded with them.

Thats them.  If you get the invasive form of anisakiasis the parasite isn't targeting any specific tissue...the worm is lost...on a "walk about" looking for that happy home in a sea lion it will never find in a human.  The normal course of action is pretty dang yucky...they will eventually daylight through a sinus, nostril, or some other portal that is sure to ruin a first date.

I pulled a whopper long worm from a swordfish filet the other week.

maybe 5" long, white. about an inch from the skin, but no obvious hole.
soft and squishy, 1/16" diameter, ghosty white color.

shouldn't swordfish be less susceptible to those kinds of things?

I have seen halibut that are riddled, then others that seem clean except for
the gut cavity. I've never seen one with just the odd worm. what is up
with that?