Seafood safe to eat?

AngelaO

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If the sewer systems on the coasts of the DR allow raw sewage to ooze into the sea, is it safe to eat locally harvested fish and shellfish? I know that shellfish beds off the coast of the US can be closed due to very heavy rains and problems that the rains cause with septic systems. I would think that less well regulated sewer systems in the DR, would cause even greater problems with seafood.
Do the fishermen go far enough out to catch clean fish?
 

pedrochemical

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Aug 22, 2008
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I have never got sick from eating fish in the D.R. and I have been eating it for years.
I only buy it from restaurants and supermarkets, however.
I know some fishermen at Tablon near Sosua and they always fish on the far side of the reef so there should be no worries about Ciguatera (SP?)
As for pollution - there might be a bit more sewage but probably less heavy metals on the North Coast.


One of the problems for me is that when you see guys selling shellfish on the beach, there is no reason to believe it is fresh.
It stinks to high heaven when they walk by. Fresh fish does not smell like this.
Bearing in mind that electricity is not guaranteed in the D.R. there is a fair chance that the prawns will not have been refrigerated overnight. I personally never buy from the beach guys. I would especially not buy from them later in the afternoon when the prawns have been out in the sun all day.

Note: This does not apply to the beach restaurants.
 

AngelaO

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Thank you for the advice, pedrochemical! I was born on the coast, and now live on the coast. I love fresh seafood! I have a huge respect for the fact that it must be harvested in clean waters, however. I look forward to sampling the seafood in the DR. Thanks, again!
 

Ken

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There are no guarantees when you eat sea food.

I have friends who got ciguatera from eating fish in the DR. They were part of a family group, all ate fish, some got ciguatera, others did not.

There would be more on this message board if it happened often, but people do get sick. Besides my friends, I have heard of several other cases during the years I have lived in the DR.
 

pedrochemical

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There are no guarantees when you eat sea food.

I have friends who got ciguatera from eating fish in the DR. They were part of a family group, all ate fish, some got ciguatera, others did not.

There would be more on this message board if it happened often, but people do get sick. Besides my friends, I have heard of several other cases during the years I have lived in the DR.


Wow,

How did having Ciguatera work out? Are they OK?
It sounds pretty nasty.

Does proper cooking kill Ciguatera?
 
May 29, 2006
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Cooking does not destroy ciguatera. It is a toxin put out by various reef bacteria and it works its way up the food chain. So eating grouper, snapper, barracuda or other reef predators are possible causes. Because barracuda eats other predators, it should never be eaten. I ate a lot of mero in the DR but I don't know what fish this was. It is translated as grouper on some sites and as sea bass on others. I'm hoping it was sea bass.
 
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mike l

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I don't buy reef fish just tuna, dolphin and wahoo when available.

Although you are not supposed to eat barracuda, in the Bahamas it is eaten quite often as the locals seem immune so it may be the same scenario in the DR concerning reef fish.
 

Ken

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Wow,

How did having Ciguatera work out? Are they OK?
It sounds pretty nasty.

Does proper cooking kill Ciguatera?

It would have been less nasty for them if they had been diagnosed and treated in time. They ate the fish at a Sosua restaurant the night before returning to Canada so didn't really know they were ill until they got back to Canada. The doctor they consulted there had no experience with ciguatera cases so didn't treat it as it should have been. By the time they got to a doctor who knew how to treat it the easy treatment no longer possible.

Dominican doctors and hospitals know what to do if you go for treatment within a couple of days (don't recall what the window is), but too few cases in Canada for all doctors to know how to recognize the symptoms.

As has been said, cooking does not kill it and it is cumulative. Each time you get it is worse than the time before.

Of course, you can get it anywhere, even in Canada, since so much fish is imported. They say that the bigger the fish the more toxin it is likely to have in its body waiting for somebody to eat it.

Mike, Bahamians get it, too. My wife and I spent quite a bit of time there when we were cruising on our sailboat and talked with people who had had it. Every fish does not have the toxin; I'm sure there are lots of people who eat a lot of fish who never get it.

I'm like you, just eat fish that I know are safe. I'm not lucky at lottery and would expect the same bad luck with Russian roulette (ie, eating fish).
 
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AngelaO

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Wow! Y'all are great. I had never even heard of ciguatera prior to this forum. I was mainly concerned with the sewage contamination issue. I guess I'll be forced to eat only lobster, when I'm craving seafood! ;)
Thanks for all the help!
 

spanky27312

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Dec 7, 2008
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So if you just eat tuna, dolphin and wahoo you will not get it.
There is a certain type of fish the british pubs in sosua use for there fish and chips---don't remember, but might be frozen fish shipped in.
 
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May 29, 2006
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I used mero for my fish and chips and it was very good. I think it was about 100pesos a pound at the local market frozen. Couldn't find malt vinegar in Sosua but heard you could get it in PP...

Not big on any of the "safe" fish. But I'd stay away from grouper just because they grow very slow, so lots of years for the toxins to build up. Parrot fish is a coral eater so it shouldn't have a lot of toxin in it.
 

Richie

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Mar 30, 2005
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I ate a lot of mero in the DR but I don't know what fish this was. It is translated as grouper on some sites and as sea bass on others. I'm hoping it was sea bass.

I think it is supposed to be grouper but I know a lot of places in the DR, especially on the beaches, just serve whatever the harpoon guy brought in that day regardless of what the menus say. So the name could cover a multitude of sins.
 
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May 29, 2006
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Really? That's great because I can buy Mahi locally. I'll give it a try for my next fish and chips(which btw is awesome). Thx.

Still kind of confused though:
mero_sea_bass.jpg


and this is also called mero

57-mero-1.jpg
 

sammytheman

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Sep 18, 2007
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So if you just eat tuna, dolphin and wahoo you will not get it.
There is a certain type of fish the british pubs in sosua use for there fish and chips---don't remember, but might be frozen fish shipped in.

why would you eat dolphin man? Don't you know it is a man's best friend....in the water? Its like eating a dog. I feel really sad when people think dolphin is just another fish. It is not. It is a mammal.
 

pedrochemical

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why would you eat dolphin man? Don't you know it is a man's best friend....in the water? Its like eating a dog. I feel really sad when people think dolphin is just another fish. It is not. It is a mammal.


Dolphin fish is not really Dolphin. It is Dolphin fish - a fish, not a mammal. A Dolphin is a mammal and I have never seen people eat it in polite company although I can see where the confusion might come in.
Mahi-mahi, I believe - at least in the pacific islands that what they call it.

Where do you stand on Dogfish? ;)
 
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pedrochemical

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why would you eat dolphin man? Don't you know it is a man's best friend....in the water? Its like eating a dog. I feel really sad when people think dolphin is just another fish. It is not. It is a mammal.


And for that matter catfish and sea horses....
 

pedrochemical

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That is one mean ugly and angry fish for sure.

We eat parrot fish(cotorra), tilapia, basa and mero and have never gotten sick.


In London many years ago they had difficulty in finding Cod, Haddock and Hake - the usual ingredients for Fish & Chips.
They started using Dogfish but who would want to eat that?
So they renamed it Rock Salmon- yum!
(Well anything battered and deep fried tastes good to an Englishman - mars bars and fully loaded kebabs for example ;))

Some days fishing of the south coast of England they are all you will catch.
Slippery buggers they are too.....always twisting and turning and messing up your line......
 

GeeDee

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Follow the fisherman with there daily catches off the puente flotante. Wherever they go to hawk their fresh fish stay away.
 

pyratt

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Safe Seafood? Helps if you understand WHAT you're really eating...

Mahi Mahi = El dorado = "dolphin"...
Bottle nose porpoise is sometimes called a dolphin, but illegal to kill and eat in most of the world (except like China & Japan, where they eat anything)

MERO...in the science books they show a sea bass from the Southern Hemisphere...in the DR, MERO is usually explained as "grouper" on the menu, but they feed you imported fresh water mudsucking catfish called Basa or Tre'...sometimes they will feed you Tilapia and call it grouper. (especially when it's fried)

You can't get ciguatera from Basa, Tre', or Tilapia as ciguatera is only found in saltwater fish....also these fish have very low nutritional value as they are low in the good Omega-3s and high in "bad fat"...they are "farm raised **** eaters" grown in near shore waters subjected to high nutrient runoff.....yum-yum

It's very hard to tell what you're being served unless you're experienced as a fisherman, cook or seafood expert. (or caught it yourself) These ASIAN farm fish are being substituted around the world and even sold by distributors in mismarked boxes from China (go figure) There was a study done in Florida EEUU where restaurant fish was DNA tested for being grouper...most restaurants FAILED the test and were caught substituting with "Oriental Mudfish". Hooters had to rename their fish sandwich "Groupers Cousin"....as an FYI, Gulf caught grouper is $16USD per pound on Florida's Gulf coast.

If it's 100 pesos a pound, it's not deep water strawberry or black grouper. Real grouper is a thick (1" or better fillet), the flesh is white after cooking and flakes in large natural segments. Some of the DR locals also call a cousin to the grouper (rock fish) MERO...they have similar markings but are smaller and found on the inner reefs, usually weigh about 2 lbs on average.

PARROT FISH...absolutely the most dangerous fish to eat...WHY?...Ciguatera. Parrot Fish are "coral eaters"...that is they crunch the coral to eat the living coral animal that gives the colors to the rock....PARROT FISH are the most prolific of all the "poisoned" fish you can eat.... Ciguatera starts in the coral and enters the food chain when fish eat each other...hence why, snappers, groupers, barracuda, rock fish, yellow tail etc have the reputation.....reef fish.

Once you've had ciguatera, it never really "leaves" your body....in severe cases symptoms persist for years. In others, simply eating the same specie of fish has brought back symptoms for sufferers.....

Hope this helps...I've spent a good part of my life living on, and playing in the sea...
 
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