the fish least likely to carry parasites?

[jason41987]

im thinking of putting a greater focus on fishing for the purpose of consumption and as a regular source of meat (to supplement hunting to wean myself off grocery store meats).. so i was curious, of all fish that can regularly be caught for this puspose, be it freshwater or salt, which are the least likely to carry parasites.. most specifically ones such as cod worms?.. they dont seem remotely anywhere as common in salmon as they are in cod, pollack, or halibut, but im probably wrong on that

 

so what would be the cleanest fish to harvest for my goals? and i will be moving to the northwestern united states within the next year or two, likely alaska, but i am also considering the PNW and idaho

[UPSmallie]

I think your biggest concern should be mercury levels in fish.  Out of all the freshwater fish I've cleaned so far I haven't run into parasites, but I've seen plenty of strange deformities.  My advice would be to harvest the smaller, legal sized fish and generally speaking, throw back the larger of fish when applicable.  If you only catch one walleye on the day and it's 25 inches that's up to you as an example.  Fish tastes great when cooked right and with the right seasonings so I'd give it a shot.  When the fishing is great, I try and limit myself to a couple meals a week of fish and the rest are usually with beef, chicken, pork, etc.  When the fishing is not as good I usually just fall back on the other meats.

[jason41987]

well, after i move (havent decided where to yet), i think my primary source of meat throughout the year is going to end up being elk, on top of various smaller game.. so fish maybe once a week, so i think id be fine on mercury levels.. from what i've heard, walleye is by far the best tasting freshwater fish and would likely be my target if i decided to add fish to my diet, but i was also looking at some salt water species, haddock, pollack, salmon, which seem to be where the nasty cod words are found (in the ocean).. so youre saying i should probably stick to small freshwater species?.. maybe trout, small barely legal size walleye, etc?

 

im thinking that might be better overall as im cooking the fish as soon as catching it.. where if i catch a halibut for example, it'd be frozen for months by time i got around to it given how much you get off of one of them.. so for the freshness of it all, youre right, i should probably stick with the smaller stuff in cleaner streams

 

i may also pick and choose some type of freshwater fish to add to an aquaponics system as well and raise them myself for meat instead, but i think this would restrict me to herbivorous species of fish like tilapia or carp

[Turkey sandwich]

Tilapia is bland and generally not the healthiest farm raised fish.  and carp.... well, not a whole lot of folks enjoy eating carp.  

[jason41987]

ive eaten carp before, it tasted like any other white fish to me, i think a lot of the negativity surrounding carp is marketing by the game fish lobby and the commercial fisherman that want you to pay top dollar for something you cant get out of your local lakes.. but yeah, tilapia may not be the best, but i havent tried much with it yet.. with the right seasonings, who knows

 

the way aquaponics work is that you grow plants hydroponically, some of those plants are edible by the fish, the fish eat them, then fertilize the water to grow more plants.. i guess if you raised tilapia or carp as "feeder" fish for trout or walleye that could work too.. or something attractive to insects trout could eat, but wouldnt be harmful to your vegetables

 

[TnRiver46]

On 12/12/2017 at 3:25 AM, jason41987 said:

ive eaten carp before, it tasted like any other white fish to me, i think a lot of the negativity surrounding carp is marketing by the game fish lobby and the commercial fisherman that want you to pay top dollar for something you cant get out of your local lakes.. but yeah, tilapia may not be the best, but i havent tried much with it yet.. with the right seasonings, who knows

 

the way aquaponics work is that you grow plants hydroponically, some of those plants are edible by the fish, the fish eat them, then fertilize the water to grow more plants.. i guess if you raised tilapia or carp as "feeder" fish for trout or walleye that could work too.. or something attractive to insects trout could eat, but wouldnt be harmful to your vegetables

 

Commercial fishermen that sell fish from local lakes target carp Buffalo and catfish. Most states it is illegal to net and sell gamefish unless salmon are involved

[jason41987]

i do not think i would target carp though for a regular source of meat.. although theres nothing wrong with the taste at all, i havent exactly been successful in properly filleting them either with their bones.. it may take a technique i am not aware of or more practice.. i think their mercury content is really quite low though.. i may have to give that more thought but i think targeting trout may be better.. though trouts have limits on them that carps do not

[A-Jay]

 

A-Jay

 

[CroakHunter]

3 hours ago, jason41987 said:

i do not think i would target carp though for a regular source of meat.. although theres nothing wrong with the taste at all, i havent exactly been successful in properly filleting them either with their bones.. it may take a technique i am not aware of or more practice.. i think their mercury content is really quite low though.. i may have to give that more thought but i think targeting trout may be better.. though trouts have limits on them that carps do not

I've heard of older people grinding up and pressure cooking carp and then frying them I believe to make what supposedly tastes like salmon patties. Same guys went on to say that when bbq'd correctly racoon is very delicious. I'll pass on both And opt for crappie, bluegill, catfish, and bass. I've also heard gar is great when filleted and cooked near instantly after catching.

[Turkey sandwich]

I mean, if none of that helps, there's always Soylent...

 

https://www.soylent.com/products/

[jason41987]

the carp i ate didnt have a strong fish taste at all, it was actually good fresh.. i soaked it in some salt water to get all the blood out.. id eat it again but i think id target smaller, younger ones, and not these 26" long old ones.. probably less mercury content that way as well.. i cant find much information on getting a good boneless fillet out of them though.

 

still, it seems im better avoid avoiding salt water for fresh caught fish and focus on freshwater.. something easier to clean and i think that will be trout or walleye.. im going to do some more aquaponics research though and see what itd take to raise trout or walleye in captivity for meat

[TnRiver46]

On 12/15/2017 at 7:36 PM, CroakHunter said:

I've heard of older people grinding up and pressure cooking carp and then frying them I believe to make what supposedly tastes like salmon patties. Same guys went on to say that when bbq'd correctly racoon is very delicious. I'll pass on both And opt for crappie, bluegill, catfish, and bass. I've also heard gar is great when filleted and cooked near instantly after catching.

Gar is indeed awesome

[the reel ess]

The healthiest fish don't filter mud, don't lie on the bottom and aren't at the end of a long food chain. Also, the longer a fish has been alive, the more mercury it will have in its flesh. So for freshwater fish, you would think the healthiest would be crappie, white bass, white perch, bluegill and any others that school off the bottom or suspend regularly and aren't a tertiary predator. Here's the SCDHEC report for my local lake. But you can check the lake you'll be fishing for its restrictions.

[soflabasser]

Never found a parasite in any hogfish( saltwater fish from Florida) I have caught and its the best tasting fish I have ever had.

[SWVABass]

@jason41987 I know you want to plan on eating elk that you hunt a kill. I’m out west and just wondering where your moving that you’ll be able to get an elk tag each year? If you also plan on being in country like that I would be looking to eat a lot of rainbow/brown/Brooke trout. I feel that nothing beats fresh trout. Plenty of places out west here where you could make that happen.

[Angry John]

Lived in Washington for 3 years and the trout and salmon are easy to score and the trout was all over.  The best though was crab.  I love the dungeness crabs there so tasty.  You may want to check limits and Alaska would let you take the most but there season is shorter.  Did not have a lot of frozen lake time on the ponensula so it may be a lot more year round.  Never caught an eye out there.