Cysts: How many are we finding.

[Jencourt]

I started this in the hopes that we can get full participation and maybe build a little data base to watch.

At first glance I thought we were only finding them in the chum but now after reading the Kitty thread it seems they are in our winter springs as well. As mentioned this raises concern to some of us.. The idea behind this is if you have found fish with the nasty white puss balls under the skin then report it hear. Might be educational. Maybe Game changer has something to offer? Maybe some of you have seen this before and have something to offer?



Species?
How many ?
Where were you fishing?
When were you fishing?

I will get it started.

Jencourt
Chum
1 0f 24
Browns bay
Oct 19 2011

 

[Charter Tofino]

Don't cysts form in all animal species? Other than being gross i wouldn't think there is a major issue and if you catch enough fish a few will have them.

 

[Duffer]

Have you seen these things Kelly? The flesh of the Salmon is full of white Puss Balls. Only seen if you skin the fish.

 

[Charter Tofino]

Only on a few which i cut out but i don't skin my fish so it might be more. My point was just that it's a naturally occurring thing in all animal species so i wouldn't freak out to much if you find them here or there. That said IF there is a noticeable increase then it would be an interesting point as cysts can be caused by a number of things including parasites.

 

[Jencourt]

Only on a few which i cut out but i don't skin my fish so it might be more. My point was just that it's a naturally occurring thing in all animal species so i wouldn't freak out to much if you find them here or there. That said IF there is a noticeable increase then it would be an interesting point as cysts can be caused by a number of things including parasites.

That was my understanding of what these are. A congregation of thousands of parasites making up puss like balls that wen gently squeezed they pop and ooze.I probably should have named this "puss balls" instead of cysts.

quote "My point was just that it's a naturally occurring thing in all animal species so i wouldn't freak out to much if you find them here or there." end quote

I agree that is why I thought this may be useful to do . May help us determine if it is localized to the east side or not,is it on the increase or a normal thing? should we be concerned at all? maybe not.?

 

[Charter Tofino]

They aren't made up of parasites but can be caused from parasites. Here is a list of potential causes. Pretty wide range.

Cysts can be caused by:
Tumors
Genetic conditions
Infections
A fault in an organ of a developing embryo
A defect in the cells
Chronic inflammatory conditions
Blockages of ducts in the body which cause a fluid build-up
A parasite
Impact injury that breaks a vessel

 

[Jencourt]

Thanks for that clarification Kelly.

 

[GLG]

I think it's called Mary Ellen disease.
Named after the person that has brought pestilence to our ocean.
GLG

 

[Fish Assassin]

They seem to be in all salmon. I seen they in pinks years ago in Vancouver. They this year was bad in Browns Bay with the chum. Lots of our chum had these white gooy sacks. As for the winter chinook we got yesterday you could see them in the meat after filleting it. We didn't skin the fish it was thru out the flesh.

 

[lure-washer]

According to Google/Wickapedia it is Henneguya Salminicola, and is a parasite, which is picked up in the stream of birth when the salmon is young. When the salmon comes back to spawn, they re-deposit to organisms in the stream, which then give it back to the next generation of salmon, and on and on.
Lure-washer

 

[Fish Assassin]

So what you are saying is that which ever hatchery this fish came from should find new stocks?

 

[Sharphooks]

We find them in our springs down here, but I would say, seldom, as in 1 in maybe 50 fish?

From the Oregon DF&W website:

QUOTE

Tapioca Disease

Henneguya is commonly referred to as tapioca disease because of the large tapioca-like cysts that it creates in the muscle tissue of fish. The parasite life cycle has not been described however it probably involves an annelid worm as a secondary host. Fish do not seem to be adversely affected by the presence of the parasite. Although aesthetically the flesh may be less than desirable the parasite presents no risk to humans or domestic animals.

UNQUOTE

I BBQ's a fish with "cysts" a few summers ago. The gals at the table squirmed when I brought the cooked fillets to the table. When I reassured them it was just a cosmetic thing and not a health issue, they rose to the occasion and we ate it, at least most of it. How did I get teenagers to do that? I did some creative marketing after finding out they all had a soft spot for tapioca pudding....

 

[Westcap19]

We caught a marked Chinook with cysts May 24 2010 on the Oak Bay flats (only way I know the date is I had my sons with me and took a pic of them and the fish!)

 

[floored]

Just thought I'd add to this as my son and I just got back from fishing for Pinks on the Campbell River, and were shocked at the state of our fish.

Pinks
11 of 15 fish (Tapioca / White Puss Balls / Henneguya Salminicola)
Campbell River (Sandy Pool)
August 15-16, 2014

These were all very healthy, clean looking fish taken on 5wt and 6wt flyrods, and they all ran strong.

 

[bigdogeh]

Just thought I'd add to this as my son and I just got back from fishing for Pinks on the Campbell River, and were shocked at the state of our fish.

Pinks
11 of 15 fish (Tapioca / White Puss Balls / Henneguya Salminicola)
Campbell River (Sandy Pool)
August 15-16, 2014

These were all very healthy, clean looking fish taken on 5wt and 6wt flyrods, and they all ran strong.

that doesn't sound good....

 

[KatieB]

Beach fished for what we were hoping was going to be some sockeyes up island last weekend. Caught 6 pinks off the beach and zero sockeyes. People fishing in boats had no sockeyes either but some nice big cohos were being cleaned on the beach. Pinks were headed for the smoker along with 2 that were caught locally. Of those 8 fish 2 had Tapioca disease. Had to buffer up the smoker with some cohos from the freezer to make a full batch.

 

[floored]

My oldest son was disappointed that his brother and I had gone up for pinks without him, so yesterday I took them both out again. This time we made sure to take only fish that were fresh to the river (no hooked mouths or humps, etc...).
Unfortunately, the result was pretty much the same as last time:

Pinks
7 of 11 fish (Tapioca / White Puss Balls / Henneguya Salminicola)
Campbell River (Sandy Pool)
August 19, 2014

That said, they were still a lot of fun on light fly tackle.

 

[Whole in the Water]

Got some pinks up in Elk Bay last week with the cysts. Seems like a natural, yet unfortunate thing for us fishers.


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