Thanks for the parasite quotes, Peter. Very interesting.

>by enacting legislation that required all herring to be frozen before being
>marketed.  Such legislation is impossible in Japan.  Sashimi cannot be
>prepared from frozen fish

This just isn't true. Much of the sashimi served in even very foo-foo
Japanese resturants is thawed; some of it is boiled (like octopus). Tuna,
(farmed) yellowtail (called hamachi), and salmon are very often found
thawed. These fish freeze and thaw pretty well, holding their texture
better than most.

Yellowtail is somewhat unique in that the Japanese raise them (often
feeding them frozen sardines from what I've read) in pens in the
ocean--similar to salmon aquaculture but with better feed (i.e. sardines
for yellowtail vs. the latest salmon pellets for salmon).

Thus for a sushi bar to serve hamachi outside of Japan it is almost always
from thawed fillets. If fresh tuna and/or salmon are unavailable frozen
sashimi fish are imported from Japan (in the ritziest Japanese resturants)
and the price is sky high. Strangely, I have seen Japanese tourists in
several countries eshew the local fresh sashimi fish and choose much more
expensive imported and thawed tuna, hamachi, and salmon.

FWIW,
Kirt