queensland Ciguatera Poisoning

[collvan]

Hi 

A friend of mine caught a nice 17kg Spanish Mac in Moreton Bay yesterday. I am concerned about the possibility of ciguatera poisoning. Are there any reported cases in Brisbane that you are aware of or are my concerns over the top for this area? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[tugger]

I am a living example of the chances of getting ciga poisoning i have eaten more large spanish over 40 years or more than most people. I have never had any touches of ciga over the years but that does not rule out the chance of getting it all together if you're worried try a small amount the night before anyone else in the family has sone the next day 

[collvan]

Thanks Tugger good advice

[Drop Bear]

I have not heard any reports of people getting ciguatera poisoning. Clearly that is anecdotal.

Didn't old sailors fees some to the cat first? 

[aussie123]

10 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

I have not heard any reports of people getting ciguatera poisoning. Clearly that is anecdotal.

Didn't old sailors fees some to the cat first? 

The cat is just an old wives tale Robbie.

The only real way to know if the fish has ciga is to give a feed to the mother in law or the neighbours first.

[fishingnut]

Locals say put some outside if the flies like it it’s good to go if not chuck it. Not sure on how accurate it is tho ? 

[Drop Bear]

12 hours ago, aussie123 said:

The cat is just an old wives tale Robbie.

The only real way to know if the fish has ciga is to give a feed to the mother in law or the neighbours first.

Science baby!

[The Mad Hughesy]

I was under the impression that the only real danger area was around Hervey Bay? Cant say ive heard of issues from Moreton Bay

 

[aussie123]

9 hours ago, christophagus said:

I was under the impression that the only real danger area was around Hervey Bay? Cant say ive heard of issues from Moreton Bay

 

Ciga is a risk right along the East Coast as fish like Spanish migrate.

Theres been ciga poisoning cases right down to Sydney

 

[collvan]

Lucky no issues and the Spanish was great. I am aware of some cases on the Gold Coast and Sydney but I guess you have to be very unlucky. 

[davostephens]

If you ever catch a decent mac down deep, say bottom bashing they are usualy a stuffed fish, eating whatever they can.. ie small coral and reef fish. hence building up cigatera.

A pro fisho gave me the heads up on that and said looking closely at them they look ragged. You can tell there not healthy.

The more active fish that eat fusileers and bait species dont build up the coral poison, ciga as much. It is an accumulation of poison over time.

up north i fish pretty shallow < 20 mtrs. and nowhere near the reef. i still let anything over 20 go. Even then i reckon you may roll the dice eating between 15-20kg fish. But no issues so far.

There was a Hamish and Andy true story episode where some guys caught a big 20 - 30 kg job off south west rocks. They gave it out to a few people and they all met up in hospital that night.

So its not restricted to right up north as they travel, To be on the safe side 15kg and below i reckon  your safe so long as its not a deep water caught fish. like u got it on the bottom while fishing for reds.

Clear as mud?

[aussie123]

On 12/11/2019 at 1:14 AM, davostephens said:

If you ever catch a decent mac down deep, say bottom bashing they are usualy a stuffed fish, eating whatever they can.. ie small coral and reef fish. hence building up cigatera.

A pro fisho gave me the heads up on that and said looking closely at them they look ragged. You can tell there not healthy.

The more active fish that eat fusileers and bait species dont build up the coral poison, ciga as much. It is an accumulation of poison over time.

up north i fish pretty shallow < 20 mtrs. and nowhere near the reef. i still let anything over 20 go. Even then i reckon you may roll the dice eating between 15-20kg fish. But no issues so far.

There was a Hamish and Andy true story episode where some guys caught a big 20 - 30 kg job off south west rocks. They gave it out to a few people and they all met up in hospital that night.

So its not restricted to right up north as they travel, To be on the safe side 15kg and below i reckon  your safe so long as its not a deep water caught fish. like u got it on the bottom while fishing for reds.

Clear as mud?

I totally disagree with your theory of Spanish that are caught on the bottom being ragged looking and ciga carriers.

We constantly catch Spanish on the bottom between 100m and 150m deep and they are beautiful conditioned fish and have never seen or heard an incidence of ciga from them.

 

[davostephens]

2 hours ago, aussie123 said:

I totally disagree with your theory of Spanish that are caught on the bottom being ragged looking and ciga carriers.

We constantly catch Spanish on the bottom between 100m and 150m deep and they are beautiful conditioned fish and have never seen or heard an incidence of ciga from them.

 

Yeah rite.

what coastal area do you catch them 150 mtrs?

 

1have caught 2 off cairns in 60-70 mtrs.

On bottom. They looked bit different ( thin) to the more pelagic feeding ones. I let them go for advice and didn’t want to risk it.

But hey I’ll take your word for it.

What are you catching them on in that depth?  That’s pretty cool. Are they big/small etc.? Are you targeting them in that depth? 

This is real interesting to me. Not just the usual I caught a trout in 30 mtrs..

cheers 

 

[aussie123]

We got them off 1770/Yeppoon area.

They are all sizes and we just get them on bottom bashing rigs chasing reef fish.

Some days out there they can be a nuisance on the bottom, especially when they nip off our rigs.