Ciguatera/ eating tropical fish

[scubadog76]

I was going to be heading to the Caribbean in a few weeks and was planning on doing some spearing along the way.  A shop in St. Croix V.I. last year had warned us about Ciguatera poisoning from eating the fish.  There is not very consistent info about what fish to avoid.  The general feel is that Snapper, Yellow tail, grouper and Hogfish are OK.  Have any of the spearing crew had any run-ins with this?  Ciguatera does not sound like a good time.  Thanks, Jeff

[Shooter]

you don't generally have to worry about it in fish under 20 pounds with the exception of barracuda. Supposedly, if you put a piece of the fillet next to an anthill, and the ants eat it. It's okay. I have also heard that this might be an old wives tale. I would definitely researched the symptoms before I go. Good luck and good spearing

[popolarbear]

my limited understanding with the few times Ive been in the Carib. is that it accumulates in some fish but not in others, ANY fish can have this, but certain species are more susceptible to this, and interestingly certain locations and certain reefs are also more prone. if you get farther offshore this is less a problem. and taking younger smaller fish is also better(also mercury exposure is less). hogs can have this problem. A test kit is available but I'm not sure how accurate the kit is. you would have to test each fish. If my memory is right there was some research to suggest that Niacin(?) treatment will lessen the reaction. but it could be life long sensitivity that you will then have. look on some of the other spear boards for info, there is allot of on line discussion on this subject.

[scubadog76]

        We actually just got back from Puerto Rico after doing a little spearing, and attitudes about Ciguatera are very different depending where you go.  Our dive boat captain barely recognized the word Ciguatera until I went into a little more detail(my spanish is pretty bad)  He said Barracuda are the ones to worry about.  Last year in St. Croix, they made it sound like an epidemic so we really limited what species we went after.  In P.R, we hit hogs, yellow tail, Schoolmaster and Snapper and had no ill effects.  The captain even said that Trunkfish are great to eat(talk about a boxed lunch) but we were not up to that big of a taste adventure.  I too had heard about leaving a chunk of meat out for ants/ flies but did not try it.  We went fishing with frozen squid and the flies were on it in less than 2 minutes.  If I find anything else out I will certainly type it up-  Thanks for the info, Jeff