Dangerous fish and animals — what to do when you are stung or bitten

The fish that injures you in Japan is rarely the big one. It is usually a 20 cm fish you were not even fishing for. The most common injuries on a breakwater are venomous spine stings, cuts from teeth and gill covers, and hooking yourself — and all three happen at the moment someone grabs a fish with a bare hand. Buy a fish grip and a pair of pliers before anything else and most of what follows simply does not happen to you.

Fish with venomous spines

Aigo (rabbitfish) carries venom in every spine of its dorsal, pelvic and anal fins; gonzui (striped eel catfish) carries it in the first spine of the dorsal and pectoral fins. Both are everyday by-catch from piers in Japan, and a sting means intense pain for hours or days. Critically, the venom stays active after the fish is dead: people are stung by fish lying in a cool box, in a rubbish bag, or left on the concrete by the previous angler. Haokoze, a velvetfish barely 10 cm long, and onikoze (devil stinger), which buries itself in sand, are venomous too. Kasago and mebaru are not considered strongly venomous, but a deep spine wound still swells and can become infected.

If you are stung

• Wash the wound thoroughly with clean water. Do not dig for a spine you think is still in there.
• Immerse it in water as hot as you can bear (around 45C) until the pain eases. Many fish venoms are protein-based and heat-labile. Keep the temperature below what would scald you.
• Keep the limb above heart level and as still as possible.
• Then get medical care. If pain is severe, swelling spreads, breathing is difficult, or consciousness is affected, call 119 for an ambulance.

Once the hot water takes the pain away it is tempting to call it done. But an allergic reaction and an infected puncture are not things you can assess yourself. Children, older people, and anyone with a chronic condition should be seen by a doctor regardless. Note that 119 is the ambulance and fire number in Japan; 118 is the Coast Guard, for accidents on the water.

Treat teeth and gill covers as blades

The teeth of tachiuo (cutlassfish) and sawara (Japanese Spanish mackerel) are knives and will cut through heavy leader instantly; a thrashing fish is dangerous by itself. Pin it with a fish grip before the pliers go anywhere near the hook. Suzuki (Japanese seabass) has a gill cover with an edge that opens a deep cut in the hand holding it. Hirame (olive flounder) has a mouthful of canines. The rule that covers all of them: your hands do not go into the mouth or the gills.

Never handle these bare-handed

Akaei (red stingray) lies buried in sand and carries a venomous barb at the base of the tail; on a beach you can be struck simply wading at the water's edge. Hyoumondako, the blue-ringed octopus, is a small octopus of about 20 cm whose blue rings and lines flare up when it is agitated. Its saliva contains tetrodotoxin and a bite can be life-threatening. Never touch a small octopus, and never touch one with blue rings. Pufferfish including kusafugu carry powerful toxins in the organs and skin; in Japan preparing them legally requires a licensed handler, and preparation by anyone else is not permitted. If you catch one, do not keep it for the table — return it to the water.

The most common injury is your own hook

It rarely reaches any statistic, but hooking yourself or the person next to you is what actually happens most. A barbed hook does not come back out the way it went in. Look behind you before every cast, never leave a rig lying in the dark around your feet, and do not stand behind children who are casting. If a hook goes in deep, do not pull — cut the line and go to a clinic.