Ciguatera & Spanish mackeral

[disorderly]

So it's best not to eat Spaniards at all then

This will certainly protect you.
Though it's pretty extreme to not eat one of the best eating fish around because of the miniscule risk of ciga..
Best bet ,IMHO,is to take smithy's advise to heart and find out where it is prevalent and avoid fish from those area's.
I have been eating them a couple of meals a week (out of the 3-4 times a week I eat fish) for several years without any complaint(generally in the 8-15kg bracket)so I think blokes like Garry (spaniard king)have been very unlucky to have been poisoned.Though it's no consolation for him as once would be enough.
We have also used some around the 18-20kg to feed to our local primary school for fundraising purposes on a couple of occasions and with no drama's at all.
I would personally be wary of specimens bigger than 20kg and also very large trout(though I have never caught one bigger than 5kg so it's not a worry)

scott

[Dan5]

Hey spaniard with your cig poisoning do you still get the symptom's?A guy i know got it from a moari wrasse about 15 year's ago the fish was caught in vanautu and not in australia but he now has a very low tolerance to most fish even mangrove jack will give him mild symptom's.Needless to say he will not eat any thing from the reef including anything caught around the top end where the only know cigutera poising has been around the gove way.Dan............

[Spaniard_King]

Scott, I have eaten plenty over 20kg and even my biggest.. 32kg wasnt a problem.. ciga does not disscriminate

[Spaniard_King]

Dan,

we have not had any reoccurrence of any symptoms and we eat more fish than most.

[FNQCairns]

Mate got a 52 lber off harvey bay brought it home cut it up and handed it out to the whole street and poisned everyone who ate it,true story.

Mate that's a right shocker, which street are you living in now?

[IRMC000]

So what other species in the Great Sandy Straits ought to be avoided re: ciguatera?

[Rocket01]

So how come ciguatera poisoning is more friequent in spanish then other fish?

[reilly]

I work in palliative aged care and cared for a man who worked most of his life in Townsville as a ship master and he still had symptoms from Ciguatera he still experienced to his passing sensation reversal and most of the other symptoms and over exposure to sun his skin basically fell of him in a singlet and short pattern on his body of which made his life hell till he died.

[Tetsuo]

From what I underestand, the ciguatera toxin is accumulative. Many small fish carry tiny amounts which are not likley to have any impact. An apex predator like a large coral trout or particularly a big spaniard will consume thousands of these smaller fish thus building up the levels of toxin.

Apparently it builds up in humans also so that a second strike is worse than the first. Even someone who has not had a singular large dose can get an intolerance to fish due to this build up.

There are however a lot of people that eat a lot of fish with no worries and I have no proof to back up any of my comments.
Cheers

[disorderly]

Scott, I have eaten plenty over 20kg and even my biggest.. 32kg wasnt a problem.. ciga does not disscriminate

Garry ,I thought the larger,older fish would have been more of a worry due to the cumulative nature of the toxin.?

Hervey bay has been mentioned as an area that harbours the algae responsible for ciguetera poisoning.
Does anybody know of any other area's of concern?

[tunaticer]

I want to know if a fish of a large size that has a high level of ciguatera toxins will lose this accumulation either over time or location change?
Are these toxins like heavy metals in that the fish cant purge them from its system?
If a fish with the toxin is eaten by a larger fish, is the toxin "diluted" or does it intensify?

Errol Eadie who kicked off "The Tackle Shop" in the caltex at Carseldine cuaght a stargazer around 2kgs that gave the entire family a heavy dose of ciguatera poisoning. The stargazer was caught next to the barge to Frazer Island on Inskip Point. Took a long time for the family to feel normal again.

Jack.

[Tetsuo]

I heard a story from a cabbie in cairns about a rich guy who got a really bad bout. He said it felt like under his skin was burning as well as the runs and vomiting for some time. The guy still can't eat any seafood or drink any alcohol as a result and has since travelled the world looking for a cure.

Sounds pretty severe. Like I said though, might just be a story

[the gecko]

Ive got a mate who thinks hes allergic to fish, says he cant eat it or he gets really sick. He said it wasnt always this way, he ate some fish while he was in Sth Africa many years ago, then got really sick, and cant eat fish again.

Does this sound like cig? He also has a lot of skin problems, like rashes. Would knowing this is cig, make it any easier for doctors to treat him?

Andrew

[Freeeedom]

I heard a story from a cabbie in cairns about a rich guy who got a really bad bout. He said it felt like under his skin was burning as well as the runs and vomiting for some time. The guy still can't eat any seafood or drink any alcohol as a result and has since travelled the world looking for a cure.

Sounds pretty severe. Like I said though, might just be a story

Jesus - this is getting serious. I'm only eating little fish from now on!
Cheers Freeeedom

[Tetsuo]

Gecko, sounds like a possibility but I dont think there's much doctors can do