parasites in salmon and steelhead

[drdale]

I bought some Atlantic farmed steelhead at COSTCO and want to cold smoke it.  Is it necessary to freeze it first to kill any parasites?  I know wild Pacific salmon should not be eaten raw before freezing but I am not sure if the same applies to farmed steelhead and Atlantic salmon.

[manxman]

Farmed salmon are very unlikely to have dangerous to humans parasites in the same way that wild salmon are as these parasites are spread via the food cycle in the wild that may include seals or bears for example. The make up of food /pellet  that farmed salmon eat is highly controlled and am sure that seals and bears are discouraged!

I also understand from a local supplier that there is a high probability that farmed salmon has already been frozen then defrosted prior to being offered for sale purely because of the logistics of getting it from farm to point of sale.

Also some countries insist that any product that may be eaten raw and pose a possible threat to humans by way of parasitic infection must be frozen before being released for consumption, the FDA probably have guidelines to cover this in the US? In the UK they differentiate between wild and farmed salmon but not sure about elsewhere?

Farmed salmon may have there own problems with parasites such as sea lice or other issues relating to intensive farming but in respect of parasitic infection that can make you pretty ill the risk is minimal.

Even with farmed salmon I always try and find out where they have come from and inspect the fillets carefully, we get cod worn round here and check all fish fillets out of habit!  ;)

[drdale]

Thanks for the response.  I thought the same but just wanted to see what others felt.  Usually it is the State Health Department that deals with this kind of thing.  I know in Washington they stipulate that any fish (other than tuna) sold for raw consumption must be frozen first.  Even fish that have no human parasites are under this law.  Probably because they don't know the science behind it and just outlaw everything else just to be safe (or lazy).

[SiFumar]

Not to change the bug topic...but is all Atlantic salmon farm raised?

[drdale]

I imagine there are some wild Atlantic fish caught in their native habitat, but I doubt very much you will see any wild fish for sale unless you live along the Atlantic or in Europe.  But even then essentially all the salmon coming out of Norway and Sweden and Ireland etc will be farmed.

[SiFumar]

Thanks!  Wasn't sure.

[ported]

All salmon have worms and other  parasites, farm salmon in some cases can have higher concentrations. Sea lice can be scraped off the skin.
Ask Costco if the fish has been prviously frozen. Freezing will kill all of the above.
I have fish farmed Atlantic,Spring, Steelhead/Trout and Coho and my wife is the Quality Manager for the largest salmon cannery in North America, at present. I've also smoked,canned and pickled a wee bit of salmon, enough to almost be sick of eating it....almost:)

[viper125]

Ive always froze wild meat for cure and seasoning for two weeks or more before using it. My theory is low and slow may not kill all. But  the two together does. I may be wrong but Id rather error on the safe side then not. And Im old so I JUST DO IT THAT WAY! ;D

[Slamdunk]

I'm lucky that I live in British Columbia so can catch my own wild salmon. Although we do have fish farms in BC I just plain don't trust them.
Here is a short article on farm salmon viruses.



CONNE RIVER, N.L. — Almost 500,000 salmon in Newfoundland and Labrador will be destroyed due to an outbreak of infectious salmon anemia.

Gray Aqua Group confirmed the outbreak at one of their fish farms in Conne River in a release Saturday morning.

It says tests done by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are conclusive.

Infectious salmon anemia is a naturally occurring virus that poses no risk to wild species such as lobster, cod and herring.

"We are taking this confirmed finding very seriously and are co-operating fully," said Gray Aqua Group vice-president Clyde Collier.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Aquaculture Industry Association couldn't be reached for comment, but executive director Miranda Pryor told radio station VOCM the virus can be carried by a number of fish in the Atlantic.

She said the salmon at the affected farm need to be destroyed to minimize the risk of transmitting the virus to other farming sites.

It isn't the first time a company has been ordered to destroy salmon.

Earlier this year, a Nova Scotia fish farm was ordered to destroy hundreds of thousands of salmon after a similar outbreak outside Shelburne Harbour.

Outbreaks of infectious salmon anemia in New Brunswick in the late 1990s dealt a blow to the aquaculture industry there at the time and the federal government provided tens of millions of dollars in compensation.

[ported]

The viruses they speak of are bad for salmon, not humans.
If fish is smoked and then frozen, that works just the same as freezing before smoking.
We always pick the worms out of our cod etc. before eating it fresh. Most worms etc are closest to the head of the fish.

[Slamdunk]

"We always pick the worms out of our cod etc. before eating it fresh. Most worms etc are closest to the head of the fish."

Ported, thanks, but no thanks.

[rajzer]

"We always pick the worms out of our cod etc. before eating it fresh. Most worms etc are closest to the head of the fish."

Ported, thanks, but no thanks.

Well I still would rather eat a wild cod with the worms removed than supermarket tillapia from China  fed with chicken manure. 

[3rensho]

Well I still would rather eat a wild cod with the worms removed than supermarket tillapia from China  fed with chicken manure. 

Definitely.  I classify Vietnamese farmed Pangasius in the same category as Tillapia.  Ain't food.

[manxman]

Well I still would rather eat a wild cod with the worms removed than supermarket tillapia from China  fed with chicken manure. 

Ditto

[schneep]

If you have ever been to a fish farm, you would never eat a fish farm fish again,.  EVER