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theVan
29-04-2006, 10:34 AM
Hi guys

A friend of mine has a dilemma.

He had a successful day drifting with livebaits and pillies around little woody island just off kinfisher bay resort in Hervey bay.

He got a yellowtail king and and a couple of mackeral.
Then a huge cobia...... now thats not the dilemma

The cobia is about 6ft long and just fits in his bathtub.

He has had it suggested that he may be in danger of catching ciguatera.

Can anyone help us out....... It has already been steaked!

I appreciate any help

cheers
theVan

ps photos over the next week or so

agnes_jack
29-04-2006, 11:26 AM
G'day Van!!
It is a dilema, cobia have been known to have ciguatera. But as far as I know no one has yet developed a reliable test kit for it. Basically...how lucky do ya feel!! ;D

Regards, Tony

theVan
29-04-2006, 11:56 AM
thanks Tony

it is so hard not to hoe in to such a great fish.

but i think you could be right...... maybe too much of a risk

agnes_jack
29-04-2006, 12:01 PM
I had a big one a few years back about 80 lb. I got him on light line and it was too stuffed to swim by the time we pulled it into the boat. Had the same dilema, I ate a few small portions of it and so did a few of my braver mates. I was not game to eat too much of it though. The cat test can supposedly work. I will see if I can find a link to it.

Regards....Tony

Volvo
29-04-2006, 12:10 PM
Give it the cat n the Mother -In- law test 8-), if both are standingokay n havent a wobbleup in the hindquarters after a few days , hoe into it:)..
not uncommon this size up here ey..
Cheers

mattooty
29-04-2006, 12:15 PM
Wish i had that problem..... :-[ ::)
Try it on the cat or dog.
Matt

KONE
29-04-2006, 02:11 PM
Hey VAN, found me login name finaly.

charleville
29-04-2006, 02:33 PM
I can confirm that it is possible to get ciguatera from Cobia as one of my friends and all of his family (bar the one who did not eat the Cobia) copped a dose which laid them low for a few days.

Spaniard_King
29-04-2006, 03:47 PM
Don't take the chance :-[

It's not worth it

Garry

fishn-ads
29-04-2006, 05:47 PM
Mount it!!! (but wear protection) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Scalem
29-04-2006, 09:24 PM
The fish I caught In Morton Bay was great on the Barby, and divvied up to heaps of other people including the workmates.

Never gave it a thought (about C poisoning) and we all lived. Would it be any different from HB?

Scalem

Angla
29-04-2006, 11:15 PM
Someone suggested to cook a bit from just behind the head and rub it on the inside of the lip and then wait for a reaction.

If there was no reaction then go for it.

I might suggest to cook that bit up with a feed of snapper.

Then have a big feed of Cobe the next time with confidence.

Chris

subzero
30-04-2006, 07:22 AM
Didnt know it existed, sounds very nasty. Apparantly their is a test kit that can be purchased via this link.
Cheers Lloyd
http://cigua.oceanit.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=44

Fishing Info › Fishing Safely Deborah Mills

This is one of a series of articles prepared for Fishing Cairns by Dr Deborah Mills, author of the book, Travelling Well, and director of The Travel Doctor travel medicine clinic in Brisbane.

Ciguatera Poisoning

Ciguatera is a poisoning resulting from eating certain fish in particular environments in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and The Caribbean.

The poison occurs naturally in algae and plankton, the lower part of the marine food chain. The little fish eat the algae, the big fish eat the little fish, the bigger fish eat the big fish and so on. The effects of the poison are related to the dose you get, so the bigger the fish, the more IT has eaten, and the sicker YOU get.

The locals usually know which fish carry the highest risk.Mackerel caught around mid October in Australia are a classic cause of the condition, as are some Great Barrier Reef and semi-pelagic saltwater fish including red bass, chinamanfish (chinaman cod), paddle tail, snapper, spanish mackerel, moray eels, wrasse, trigger fish, and queenfish. Even coral trout has been incriminated as an occasional carrier.

Captain Cook reported the first case of ciguatera poisoning in the Pacific in 1774 while in the New Hebrides. He suffered poisoning twice, and red bass was thought to be responsible on both times.

Symptoms

Symptoms range from none at all to severe and incapacitating, and come on within one hour, or be delayed for 24 hours or more. The illness lasts for an average of about 8 days, but in some cases symptoms can take months to years to disappear.

The symptoms are very varied.Sweating may be the first sign that something is wrong but the most common symptom is altered sensation around the lips, mouth, tonge and throat. This may be felt as numbness, tingling or even extreme sensitivity, and reversed feelings of heat. The sufferer complains may complain of hot foods feeling cold, and vice versa.

Tingling or itching in the extremities may persist for weeks and be set off by exposure to water or cold. Disturbance of sensation may occur elsewhere in the body, including severe stabbing pain in the genitals (sorry guys!).

Heaviness, weakness, and muscle pains of the body, legs and arms, and a lack of co-ordination may also occur. Gut symptoms of nausea, vomiting, pain in tummy, cramps, abnormal metallic taste, aching of the teeth and a watery diarrhoea may occur. Tightness in the jaw and face muscles have been described.

Tiredness, dizziness and exhaustion may occur and even paralysis of breathing so that life support is required. Alcohol makes the symptoms worse.

No immunity develops after an attack, and in fact the second time around a much smaller dose is required to produce symptoms.

Can it be fatal?

The death rate world wide is reported to be 10-12%; however in Australia it is exceptionally low. It is usually not fatal, although there is a report of 1500 men dying from ciguatera poisoning during the British naval expedtion against Mauritius in 1748

Avoidance

It is not possible to detect the toxin before eating the fish, which appear quite healthy and the taste and smell of the flesh is not affected.

Probably the simplest precaution is not to eat the fish if your hands feel numb after cleaning it, or if there is any suggestion of a stinging sensation after skinning or filleting it.

Some authorities recommend feeding the viscera of the fish to a cat and confine it for observation. However, the cat may vomit, become uncoordinated, or even die within 48 hours. This is obviously extremely hard on the poor cat, and a more humane option should be entertained first. Testing a small amount of fish flesh on a healthy adult in your party the night before is a better solution, if you can find a willing victim.

A few other avoidance measures include:

* Ask the locals as the toxic fish may be confined to a narrow area like one side of a small island.
* Avoid the biggest fish of the catch.
* At no time eat or handle red bass, chinaman fish, paddle tail, or moray eels.
* If still in doubt, stick to safe fish like mullet, whiting, bream and flathead.

The poison is very stable and resistant to heat and drying, so cooking does not deactivate the poison. Soaking the fish won't work either as the poison is not water soluble.

Ciguatera fish poison can now be detected. OceanIT has created Cigua-Check™, the first commercialized ciguatera fish poison test kit in the world. For more information about Ciguatera, and the Cigua-Check™ test kit, please visit the Cigua website.

theVan
30-04-2006, 09:48 AM
Thanks guys for your input

I think the general consensus is it is not worth the risk.

The current rule of thumb seems to be that you are even at risk with trevally, coral trout , snapper and yellow tail kings.... when they are XOS.
(lucky I can only catch small ones)

I cant wait to see the photos..... I will post them on here when I get them.

...... and as for mounting the fish.....I have had worse!