I bought  fresh wild caught Pacific NW salmon yesterday & cooked it & chopped it for the cat food. As soon as I started handling it,my hands started to sting. They felt like they were coated with something,despite repeated washing they are covered with a rash so bad its broken open in spots. I am not allergic to fish & it smelled & looked fine.  I'm going to return it today,don't want to chance them eating it if something is wrong with it. Got it at the Shoprite in Medford NJ at the fish dept counter. I & my neighbors have never had a problem with fish from there before. Has anyone else run into this ? I have triple antibiotic cream on my hands & that is helping with the sting. I didn't switch any personal products or laundry or cleaning products,nothing is a new bottle & the only other thing I touched that could be an irritant is the solar salt bags I bought. But I carried them in about 3 hours before I did the salmon & the rash started within minutes of handling it. As soon as I started touching it my hands felt hot and hurt. Its not hives,there is no itch. I did take benedryl last night in case it was an allergic reaction & all it did was knock me out. No effect on the rash.

Thanks Sandi ! I never thought of that,it does sting a lot ! I'll try the vinegar & water .

It worked ! The vinegar & water took the sting away. BIG THANK YOU ! Thank goodness I didn't feed it to any of them ! I'm returning it in a few minutes. I can't imagine what that would  have felt like in their mouths,throats or stomach if they had eaten it.

I don't know if canning would destroy it or not,but most salmon is canned with the skin on & it started when I was peeling the skin off after cooking it. I did rinse it before cooking it & don't usually remove the skin but it seemed a little fatty so this time I did. I'm just glad I didn't cook it until after they had eaten,or they would have had some of it. Got to run, return the salmon then Halloween night with mil. But if anyone has a problem like this,definitely use Sandi's husbands vinegar/water remedy. It really helped & even the rash is starting to go away.

Just got back and am SOOO glad to hear the vinegar helped!  I will pass the thanks on to DH, he has gotten many a jellyfish sting in his lifetime.  I am amazed I have never gotten a jellyfish sting with all the commercial fishing I did with my dad.  LeslieK, Im afraid you were just "lucky".....I asked DH how can one know if that wont happen with any fresh caught salmon and he said that if its seine-caught, it might tend to happen more because of the nets used to scoop up the salmon and other things that get in the net, but even with that it shouldnt be something that happens very often.  He said if you can ask for troll-caught salmon that might be the safer choice as the fish are generally handled better.....

LeslieK, NO MORE STINGY JELLYFISH. Ouch!    It will be interesting to hear what the store says when you return it, if I were you I'd return it to the meatcounter you got it from and make sure they know as they might need to do something with the rest of the fish they have.....

Does cooking kill the jellyfish residue? Seems to me they shouldn't be selling fish that makes them break out in a stinging rash. Or they should at least attach a warning label!!

My cats have stolen thawing salmon off the counter. I've gotten pretty darn good about not leaving things where they can get them, but every now and again I slip. Hate to see what it would do to them   

I didn't think to ask that,but I cooked it before I skinned it & the rash & burning didn't start til I pulled the skin off the second filet. They gave me a refund & a raincheck for the sale price with no problem. When I suggested a recall the customer service person looked at me like I was crazy. So I guess that means a big no recall ! The fish counter guys were great,they apologized[even though it wasn't anything they did or could control] but they said all their fish it netted.We only have 2 fish markets left,I will check with them.Other than that I will have to go to Philly.I am half afraid to use the canned salmon I have now. That might be going back too. The rash is a lot better ,but still not gone.I'm using the vinegar/water rinse every few hours & its still helping.

I did & all they said was use hydrocortisone cream,which did nothing. Its a lot better than it was,the vinegar is working. Its just not gone yet,but no more burn or sting.