News Animals

Parasitic worm populations are skyrocketing in some fish species used in sushi

Researchers aren’t sure if the Anisakis worm increase signals environmental recovery or decline

Anisakis parasites on a salmon fillet

Anisakis parasites, here on a salmon fillet, can reach up to 2 centimeters in length. They can make diners sick, but freezing or cooking kills the worms.

Togabi/Wikimedia Commons

By Amber Dance

“Waiter, there’s a worm in my sushi.”

Diners may be more likely to utter those words today than in decades past, as the abundance of parasitic Anisakis worms infecting fishes around the globe is now 283 times what it was in the 1970s, researchers report March 19 in Global Change Biology.