The government is also asking fugu fishermen or individuals to whom third parties have given them not to have them prepared themselves because this is the main cause of poisoning. The sale of liver and poisonous parts of fish is prohibited. To curb poisoning, strict legislation governs the preparation and sale of fugu.

Read also: The most popular fish in Japan.Some people, by challenge, risk tasting the forbidden fish, such as the famous kabuki theater actor, Bando Mitsugoro VIII (1906-1975), who wanted to impress his guests by tasting the animal's liver. However, thanks to strict legislation, the number of victims has decreased, and recently no deaths have been recorded. Each year, several poisonings are linked to a bad preparation of this fish. Four to eight hours: this is the average survival time after absorption of the poison and there is no antidote. The nervous system is affected, the victim may seize, lose speech, become paralyzed, then lose consciousness and die. Its effects are dazzling: the tongue becomes numb first, then the lips and the entire mouth. But it has another formidable weapon: the poison contained in its organs (liver, ovaries, and eyes): tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin more powerful than cyanide. The fugu is nicknamed ' sunfish' or ' pufferfish' because it swells by absorbing a large amount of water to repel its predators while bristling with spines, thus operating a real metamorphosis.

Fugu poisonous parts