"I have a degree in fish biology.

"I have a degree in fish biology. Not marine biology, not regular biology, fish biology.

Anyone saying “farmed” fish are parasite free has no idea how fish are actually raised. Especially ocean species raised in offshore net pens. For example do a quick google search for sea lice on ocean net pen raised fish… Do not take “farmed fish are safe” as good advice.

Big parasites are generally easy to see and remove. However, something like an encysted nematode is easy to miss when butchering a fish. Cestode eggs and larva are tiny and easy to miss. Bacteria are smaller than your eye can see and you will miss it.

There is no such thing as a pathogen free fish, aquacultured or wild caught. Most parasites are removed during the gutting/ scaling/ butchering process, but it is not a guarantee. Some parasites live in/ migrate through a fishes musculature. This is especially true of fish not kept at extremely cold temperatures. Some parasites like anasakis will migrate through a fish as temperatures of a fish increase. Encysted parasites will leave their cyst and migrate. This is the reason (part of it) the usda and fda recommend cooking all seafood. Cooking sea food to a safe temp will kill parasites. Fish parasites are very hearty and can survive normal freezer temperatures. To kill parasites by freezing they need to be frozen to a much lower temperature a home or big box store freezer can get to.

Just because a fish is labeled sashimi grade does not mean it’s safe to eat. It’s literally just a marketing term. There’s no legal requirement to freeze fish to a low enough temp for long enough to kill parasites.

I’m not giving anyone advice on what to do and none of this should be construed as advice. I am not a lawyer and everything you do is at your own risk.

Personally, I only eat raw fish from “higher end” restaurants or from a local seafood shop. Seafood should not smell or taste “fishy”. Smelling like ocean/ saltwater and smelling like rotting fish are two different things. The unpleasant “fishy” smell is decomposition you’re smelling. Seafood spoils quickly. If I go to a seafood shop and it smells fishy I walk right out. If I go somewhere and it’s clean and smells like saltwater it’s a good sign for me. Raw fish that is not frozen may have gone through a freeze thaw cycle. I personally wouldn’t trust it unless it was frozen. Although sashimi grade is a marketing term, I will not buy raw seafood for the purpose of consuming raw unless it is sashimi grade.

I have friends that have gotten nice quality fish online, shipped to them frozen. I haven’t tried it personally but if I didn’t live near a seafood shop I would give it a try.

There’s no guarantee raw seafood is pathogen free. There’s a reason the term risk is always used when discussing raw seafood consumption. It is ultimately up to you what level of risk you are willing to accept."

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