Cook island gt disease

[Scott slingo]

I recently went to the cook island ( raratonga) and while having a chat to one of the local charter operators they informed me that if caught any gt's I shouldn't eat them under any sercumstaces because of a tropical disease that makes anything that eats them extremly sick and eventually dies this includes human and sharks etc , I was just wondering if any else else has heard of this disease and if it has entered Aussie waters as of yet?

[Jay Burgess]

Probably Ciguatera toxin.

[Peter Childs]

Maybe they just don't want anyone taking their fish!

[Scott slingo]

We also went out with a local bloke in his wooden boat  he even said there rubbish fish and the locals don't want to Catch them so it's got me wondering how bad this disease is and if it will make it here and ruin our fish

[Mark Harris]

Ciguatera I am sure.  GTs are prone to that.  And the South Pacific is the most common area of occurrence.

As far as I understand it, it does not spread as such and it very much determined by what the fish eat.

And for GT fisherman it is very good news as it does not seem to harm the fish too much and less GTs are taken for food.

The more Ciguatera rumours the better!

[Jay Burgess]

And it's also common here in Australia... except in WA we haven't had any recorded cases that I know of and people still eat all fish that are susceptible to it. On the east coast I'm pretty sure people are a lot more careful though.

[Nathan Tsao]

Plenty of fish here in Hawaii can have Ciguatera also. Any fish can get it in their systems. Highest risk fishes are the top predators like GT, barracuda, peacock grouper (roi). Even smaller reef fishes are known to get ciguatera also, no fish is is ever a guarantee. I once got a small case from eating a 2lb blue goatfish caught from my home surfbreak.
The local method of testing for ciguatera is to cut a piece of fish and feed it to a stray cat. If cat dies, then fish get cig!

[Mark Harris]

In my part of Indonesia, it has mostly been the large Lutjanidae predators, especially Ruby Snapper and Red Bass.

[Scott slingo]

Wow I didn't realize this disease was so wide. Spread , does any one know how it started

[Mark Harris]

It is not a disease as such. Rather it is a build up of toxins inside a carnivorous fish which effects humans badly when ingested. There are a huge number of articles about Ciguatera if you are interested.

Eg:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciguatera

[Dustin Foo]

Ciguatera is quite notorious in the Bahamas and Caribbean, for a long time I assumed it had never been heard of in the eastern Atlantic but I was recently told of cases in the eastern Canary Islands that sound very much like ciguatera - strange because the algae that are responsible are supposed to grow on dead coral but we don't have coral over here! 

There have been cases reported in Hong Kong as their market for reef fish spreads its tentacles into areas that have ciguatera. It may yet be the saviour of reef fish populations in areas where it's endemic, just like the tsetse fly and malaria have helped to protect what's left of African game. 

[Rick Smith]

Another thing to note is that the toxin has an cumulative effect. So, if you eat one fish which is ciguatoxin positive, you may not get sick. But, eat a couple more down the line and the toxin builds up in your system, giving you the symptoms of ciguatera poisoning.  There is no real cure either....

[Jay Burgess]

Another thing to note is that the toxin has an additive effect. So, if you eat one fish which is ciguatoxin positive, you may not get sick. But, eat a couple more down the line and the toxin builds up in your system, giving you the symptoms of ciguatera poisoning.  There is no real cure either....

Yep, we ingested Spanish Mackerel that had ciguatera in New Caledonia but didn't sick... our guides however had symptoms of ciguatera poisoning as they had a build up of the toxin in their system.

[Alan Syme]

hi,

i live here on rarotonga in the cook islands. yes the GTs here have a very high chance of ciguatera. some locals still eat them and take their chances though so not every fish has it but not a risk worth taking in my opinion as it is has nasty nasty neurological effects. one guy here got medically evacuated to nz about 2 years ago, was in hospital there for about 4 months and now looks like he has had a severe stroke, he is almost handicapped now with slurred speech, loss of normal functions and is in a bad way, all from ciguatera as he was an active, healthy man before hand.

the game fish here such as wahoo and yellowfin are fine.

some good gts here in rarotonga, not really a secret... but in the outer islands of the cooks group there are some absolute beasts around that have no one targetting them with poppers at all................. google search, manihiki, rakahanga, penryhn, mangaia, pukapuka.

lots of locals on the island of aitu for example have never seen a popper or a braid set, they laughed at me with my little casting gear (popper rod, 80lb braid and spin reel) but were soon converted.

www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/atiu-cook-islands_topic67690.html

lots of undiscovered adventures to be had if you have the time and put in the effort.

aitutaki has some great gt action also.

[Celso Mendonca]

hi,

i live here on rarotonga in the cook islands. yes the GTs here have a very high chance of ciguatera. some locals still eat them and take their chances though so not every fish has it but not a risk worth taking in my opinion as it is has nasty nasty neurological effects. one guy here got medically evacuated to nz about 2 years ago, was in hospital there for about 4 months and now looks like he has had a severe stroke, he is almost handicapped now with slurred speech, loss of normal functions and is in a bad way, all from ciguatera as he was an active, healthy man before hand.

the game fish here such as wahoo and yellowfin are fine.

some good gts here in rarotonga, not really a secret... but in the outer islands of the cooks group there are some absolute beasts around that have no one targetting them with poppers at all................. google search, manihiki, rakahanga, penryhn, mangaia, pukapuka.

lots of locals on the island of aitu for example have never seen a popper or a braid set, they laughed at me with my little casting gear (popper rod, 80lb braid and spin reel) but were soon converted.

www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/atiu-cook-islands_topic67690.html

lots of undiscovered adventures to be had if you have the time and put in the effort.

aitutaki has some great gt action also.

Another good destiny. 
Some surf spot in Raratonga?