barracuda

here they are hopefully.

your pics may be too big, or the wrong file type, if that goes over your head, email them to me and I'll post em for ya. mailto:[email protected]

Please try again to do pictures, we all want to see them. I must confess, I have had a lot of trouble in the past trying to get the photos the way I want them, but after a couple of hours trying, I normally get them to load.
See some good hints in the forum help area :wink:

Thanks (with expectations) cheers andybear

Mate they can and do give people ciguatera. DON'T EAT THEM. They can kill you! A few years ago, here in Hervey Bay, five people got it off one of them and they ALL ALLMOST DIED, AND ARE STILL SUFFERING TODAY.

As Mick says....Barracuda are the top of the food chain. The poison stops there.

Thanks for the advice. A book l've got says you can't eat them caught in Queensland. I was watching a tv fishing show where one fella sought them as the best table fish ( At Lord Howe Is. l think). Anyway, l guess l knew why these species are a problem just not the facts behind the concerns. I should try to track down some; like whats wrong with eating smaller/ younger barracuda? I certaintly wouldnt eat a large specimen, these ones were about 70cm. I am going to email a few pics to yakattack (Karlbob).

Don't know why the pics won't come up. I use nero and a older style 1.3 megpixel camera on dial up internet if that helps. Don't know how to reduce the size of the picture?

Thanks GJ.

Good fish Geejay. However I cant back up what Hairymick says about eating them enough. A few years ago when I lived in Indo, I had to help evacuate a girl from Sweden from my island back to Bali. She was very sick, we thought she had full blown malaria or something like that, it wasnt untill sometime later we got a thank you note from her and we found out it was cigotera ( how do you spell it?). Where she was staying had Barracuda on the menu !!! We thought she was gonna die.
Before that though I used to eat them, even some bigger ones. Cigoatera, whats that I used to scoff. After seeing that girl made me realize you can really die.

Thanks breambo & Yakatak.

Mate, that is the fish allright. bad enough if you catch & eat it yourself & get ciguatera. How would you feel if you gave it to somebody else and they ot it? people really have died with ciguatera poisoning.

I'm not sure, but I think those bloody pick handles are the most notorious of all fish for carrying it. The way I understand that it works, is that it has a cumulative effect., by that, I mean that you may well have a few feeds before you start to suffer any symptoms. After that, it is like playing Russian roulette.

Please mate, there are plenty of good fish in N.Q. don't eat these bloody things!

.

Thanks to you all for all the info. Sounds nasty, l will have to give that article a read Yaker. I will be staying away from them from now on. Yaker, spanish mackerel are my bread and butter fish here, not keen on giving them up, then you have your spotties as well. What do you guys think?

Ciguatera is it that commonly contracted? Do you guys eat mackerel? Then you have alot of fish and chip shops selling mackerel. The article Yaker has provided l guess should shed some light Thanks for putting the pics up Yakatack.

Cheers for the input,
GJ

No worries m8

Fearsome fish! The photo seems to indicate that the fish may have got the better of the owner of the one remaining thong.

Geejay, From what I understand, spaniards are only a risk if caught in Platypus Bay (Hervey bay) fish caught further north and south apparently don't post a problem. Personally, I wouldn't eat any pelagic caught in platypus bay. Nobody seems to know why it is so prevalent here.

I have eaten lots of spaniard caught up north without any problems but I wouldn't recommend that they be eaten here.

A couple of other notorious fish for ciguatera is the Chinaman fish & caught all along the GBR. also GBR caught large mangrove jack, & very large coral Trout

:lol:

Occy said,

and taste like that chewing gum you get from the vending machines in the loo at the local pub

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Conversely I would like to see what Occy gets up to with an actual packet of chewing gum. Or on second thoughts maybe I wouldn't. I can just picture the lady friend/wife's bemused look as you produce the chewy packet when she asks if you have protection.

yaker said:

If you want to know more about Ciguatera (good spelling Mick!) and the species affected http://www.affa.gov.au/corporate_docs/publications/pdf/animalplanthealth/chief_vet/ciguatera.pdf will probably tell you more than you want to know. Warning: It's an 86 page pdf document, so you may not want to click the link if you're on dial-up.

Listening the Fishtalk on ABC radio recently, their Hervey Bay correspondent said he wouldn't eat Spanish Mackerel because of the risk. I bet the commercial fishos aren't spreading that around.

A question for our US forum members. I believe you get Barracuda in your southern waters (Texas? Florida?). Do you have Ciguatera problems with them or other species?

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Yes, we do have barracuda in our waters (Gulf of Mexico). I have not caught one or have I eaten any. I would not eat any due to the risk of Ciguatera. From what I understand most all marine fishes that eat other fish are capable of having ciguatoxin in their flesh. Barracuda seem to be very apt to carrying this toxin, worldwide, however my limited internet research shows this to more likely in Indo-Pacific and Australian waters. My personal opinion is that this fish should be released. I would love to catch some. I hear they can really pull some drag!