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Treating weever fish stings

Mike Thrussell 09 January, 2006 10:50:00

Many of our West Coast estuaries carry numbers of the poisonous small lesser weever fish up to about 10cms long. It's offshore cousin, the greater weever growing to 2lbs or more, is contacted by boat anglers. Both have a large, sharp spined, black coloured dorsal fin that carries potent venom that once injected causes severe pain and swelling of the affected limb. There are also additional poisonous spines on the gill covers.

If injected with venom, a healthy person will feel the effects for 24 hours, but there have been cases of fatalities when the victim has had other medical problems causing overall physical weakness, especially heart complaints.

weever.jpg
Painful stings from weever fish
We anglers are particularly at risk. Shore fisherman often mistake these for small whiting, swing them in to their hand, and then grab them around the body making direct contact with the dorsal spines. The same mistake is easily made aboard a boat. Always check and identify a look-a-like whiting before handling.

Anglers digging for sandeel in sandbanks, crab pickers and even when you're digging for worm can potentially put you in contact with lesser weevers as they bury in the sand but leave the dorsal exposed.

With this in mind, it's worth knowing what to do if you or another angler gets an injection of venom from a weever. The following information comes from a ward Sister at a coastal hospital who has treated many such cases during her working life.

Pour on any form of alcohol or household vinegar directly over the puncture wound continuously for several minutes to incapacitate the stinging cells that have not yet fully penetrated the wound.

Apply a paste of equal parts of sodium bicarbonate (baking powder) and water directly to the wound and surrounding area to draw out the poison.

Use talcum powder to dust around the wounded skin area to make any remaining cells stick together. Even better than talcum powder is meat tenderiser used in barbecue cooking. It contains papain as one of its ingredients that can actually inactivate the venom.

This will stabilise the wound and reduce the spread of poison, plus minimise the pain and discomfort. Get to a hospital or doctor as soon as possible for further assistance.

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