Tape Worms in Salmon

[Poppa Reelie]

Fishing up Island past couple weekends and came across a few spring salmon with tape worms. Last time I saw this was 5 years ago near telegraph cove. These fish were caught off sutil and back of hope island. I have only seen this 4x now in all my fishing experience, and all north island fish… curious if this is from Fish farm alley? The gauntlet of fish farms plugged into all the bays and inlets up here? I know it can be a normal occurrence but what’s others people opinion?

 

[Hardy Guy]

I have seen those in chinook caught all around the coast for over 40 years; from Vancouver to the North Coast and Langara. Very common. If you don't want to see them ............................ don't look. Coho will have them also but very common in Chinook.

 

[agentaqua]

Typically, bears are the other alternative host completing that life cycle of what looks likely to be Diphyllobothrium spp. - maybe seals & some fish-eating birds too. I'll have to look that up. Cooking and/or freezing will kill them off.

Tapeworms are more susceptible to freezing than are roundworms (-18°C for 1 day will kill them); and flukes are more resistant to freezing than roundworms. The freezing time and temperature required for eradication of parasites in particular seafood products is -20°C for 7 days or
-35°C or below for 15 hours, or Frozen at -35°C until solid and stored at -20°C or below.

 

[brutus]

I have seen those in chinook caught all around the coast for over 40 years; from Vancouver to the North Coast and Langara. Very common. If you don't want to see them ............................ don't look. Coho will have them also but very common in Chinook.

Ya don’t look you won’t see them lol, very common

 

[Poppa Reelie]

Ya maybe some waters its more common? Never seen them at all down island. Oh well, just saying that was 3 fish this past weekend and only seen it once before in over 20 years.

 

[brutus]

Ya maybe some waters its more common? Never seen them at all down island. Oh well, just saying that was 3 fish this past weekend and only seen it once before in over 20 years.

I’ve seen those from all over, like I said very common, if you actually look for them you will be sick, just don’t look, no particular place where they are more common then others

 

[Poppa Reelie]

Maybe its more common today. Growing up in the 80's my mom was a DFO biologist, even to her that was a high frequency, but her studies were more on sockeye (Sakinaw) and halibut. Well I will keep a better eye out now that Iam parked in Parksville again for summer.

 

[Hardy Guy]

Most common in chinook for sure

 

[brutus]

Most common in chinook for sure

Like I said in previous post, coastal bears that feed on salmon have strings of them hanging out their butt

 

[brutus]

, education video, some might stop eating salmon

 

[agentaqua]

Maybe its more common today. Growing up in the 80's my mom was a DFO biologist, even to her that was a high frequency, but her studies were more on sockeye (Sakinaw) and halibut. Well I will keep a better eye out now that Iam parked in Parksville again for summer.

It's been my experience that there are not as many places on the coast that have both a high density of bears AND a high density of sockeye AND rivers shallow enuff for the bears to reliably catch sockeye as compared to most other species/places. River's inlet/Oweekeno Lake is an exception - and a couple more.

But (generally-speaking with some exceptions) pretty much every river on the coast has coho, pinks, some chum - and the larger rivers (esp. with lakes @ the head) also have Chinook. The sockeye populations are more discrete & specific to a few lakes - typically the larger & deeper ones. Where logging has exasperated bedload transport down the tribs that extend out into the lakes where sockeye can spawn but causes shallow water due to bedload aggradation - that's where the bears can access the sockeye with the highest success rate (IMHO).

That's a much smaller dinner plate & opportunity for the bears than the whole river for almost every river & trib. And maybe less interaction between numbers of bears attracted to sockeye lakes, with the expected bear poo/tapeworm tails & sockeye. Just a guess.

Or maybe also the infective coracidia stay shallower and aren't eaten by the deeper zooplankton that sockeye fry eat. And/or maybe the lake sticklebacks eat the infected shallower zooplankton up 1st.

So... these potential differences likely affects infection dynamics & prevalence of tapeworms in the province-wide scale - esp. in sockeye stocks verses other species

 

[Duffy]

Like I said in previous post, coastal bears that feed on salmon have strings of them hanging out their butt

Anybody going to have sushi for lunch today.

 

[agentaqua]

 

[brutus]

Let’s swamp this site with these video lol, half going to become vegans, then half the boats are gone, saving the whales at the same time

 

[onefish]

Whales dying from exposure to excessive amounts of tapeworms.