http://blueocean.org/issues/fish-as-food/mercury/advice-mercury-in-seafood/
I'm sure we all eat a lot of fish..
This is an important issue. I don't eat fresh water fish here in Florida any more due to the high mercury levels.
I'm sure we all have our own opinions about this. The good news for fishermen is that most line caught fish have lower concentrations.
Ronald
When I'm back stateside, I fish and hunt in the Sacramento/San Joaquin river delta...
Doesn't the State recommend a maximum consumption of a ridiculously low amount of Striper there?
Like 8 ounces a month maximum ....
That's what I've heard..... is that the right number?
atsa darn shame...... :-\
I know that I grew up on much more than that and we are producing less mercury now.I take Everything I hear with a grain of salt, if it is from the state I take it with two grains.if it is from USFDA I assume it is a patent lie.
Ronald
Not arguing that mercury is highly toxic and dangerous, but have an issue with the way they usually test fish. They grind the whole fish up and test for mercury. The problem is that the mercury in the fish is usually concentrated in the parts we don't eat. I would love to see the test results of just a fillet instead of the whole fish, guts and all.
Good point ;)
Another one I have trouble with is tilefish. They have been on the list for years but they were only been officially tested once and all the fish tested came from the same spot , near a very old oil rig. The old rigs could be a source of mercury. No other tests have shown tilefish to have mercury, yet they are still on the list. According to blueocean.org, all fish have mercury, or at least that is how I read it. A lot of the "science" is suspect IMO. Once again, I'm not questioning the danger of mercury, just questioning how bad fish really are.
If you're going to suspect the available data, then it seems logical that mercury levels may also be worse than reported.
I've got the answer.. Eat fish once a month and the rest should be catch and release!
Quote from: day0ne on December 26, 2013, 05:54:47 AM
Another one I have trouble with is tilefish. They have been on the list for years but they were only been officially tested once and all the fish tested came from the same spot , near a very old oil rig. The old rigs could be a source of mercury. No other tests have shown tilefish to have mercury, yet they are still on the list. According to blueocean.org, all fish have mercury, or at least that is how I read it. A lot of the "science" is suspect IMO. Once again, I'm not questioning the danger of mercury, just questioning how bad fish really are.
Agree 100%.
Well I definitely have an issue with the science and in the way it is broadcast to the public. I have been eating freshwater and saltwater fish 3 to 5 times a week for 45 years and wonder where they really get there data from, is it just to advance someone else's agenda or to discourage recreational take. If this stuff is so dangerous why is it still commercially sold to foreign countries by the millions of tons? Has anyone thought or even pushed that issue to the National marine fisheries? We can only have a couple of snapper a day for 15 days during the year but they harvest millions of pounds to be sold to other countries, our resource it outsourced that we pay for with our fishing licenses but we are the ones who are controlled to the point it is not worth paying for the trip to catch 2 fish, but they can harvest millions for the money! Just think about how many fish are caught and sold and that is where you fish are going, not because the recreational angler is taking to much but that commercial interests outweigh the needs of the resource or the ones who pay for it. Just a thought from someone who used to be one of those guys.
That's just one species, it comes to millions of metric tons when you consider how bad it really is. And that's just from our waters because they have burned there own already.
I don't know how not to make this political but I will try. I agree with SaltyDog. I see the primary problem being government regulation, which is almost always bad for whatever it says it is trying to help. None of this is going to stop me eating fish. My quality of life is way more important than a few years extra living.
Ron
Not a bit political, I will eat fish till I die. Quality of life is more important.
I eat alot of fish and game animals, never had problems with mercury or lead poising
Would it work if you put a fish into deep freezer the head pointing down... after a while mercury is in the fish head just like in a thermometer... then just cut off the head ???
When I was in the Navy in the 70's we used a chemical call mercuric nitrate to test boiler water. We were suppose to store the chemical after use to be disposed of in port. But their was no place to take it to. We would dump it down the sink. The government make regulations but never follows through providing us with a way to dispose of it. So for decades we were dumping mercury in the ocean. Also when the ships burned black oil the oil had to be heated. They used mercury gauges to read the temperature of the oil. The tubing running to the oil tanks were steel and over time the steel rusted away and the mercury leaked into the bilges and pumped over the side into the ocean. We removed the gauges in the 70's and recovered what was left of the Mercury. We were one of a thousand ships doing the same thing at that time.
Also in California during the gold rush the miners used mercury to detect gold and polluted the California river system. With all the mines full of mercury it leaches into the rivers during the rainy season every year.
I don't know how much Mercury it takes to effect a person adversely or what those effects might be?
I do know that I have had direct contact with mercury as a child, beleive it or not back in the early 60's my family dentist used to put mercury in a cup for my two brothers and I to take home with us after dental appointments. We used to polish coins, splatter it on the table and marvel at how we could roll the little beads back into a puddle. Carry it around in the palm of my hand and poke my finger into it. It was great fun and amusement. This happened on multiple occasions until a few years later he stopped giving it to us even when we pleaded for a little. Then the fact that I have been consuming wild caught fish and game my entire life.
I eat fish 2-3 times a week that I have caught. i would think that I am somewhere near the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of exposure? I cannot imagine what normal circumstances would occur to give someone a greater exposure, I have also as a carpenter been exposed to heavy asbestos grindings. We used to use the material as siding on homes. It supposedly can take 20 yrs or more to exhibit symptoms, I don't seem to have any yet and it's been over 40yrs. My exposure to these toxins could shorten my life but at 62 I'm of the mindset that everyday is a blessing anyway and I'm not about to alter my consumption of fish and game no matter what anyone says, except for domoic acid. I'm not messing with that stuff, and I love crab!
I take everything food safety says with a grain of salt, except my fish I take with about a half a teaspoon.
From personal experience, I think the whole mercury issue -for the most part- is overblown. I just don't know anyone who ever had mercury poisoning, and they eat a lot of fish. Also, my father and his side of the family are from a small island (korean territory), and fishing is a way of life over there. Not really any land animals to forage on back then, so the primary source of sustenance came from the ocean. Trees were scarce, so most were eaten raw, dried, pickled, instead of cooked. My grandmother still lives there and she's 90 years old. On the other hand, my older brother has diabetes, and before that, he never ate fish; but he does now. He's very strict about what he consumes.
Quote from: saltydog on December 26, 2013, 11:01:46 PM
If this stuff is so dangerous why is it still commercially sold to foreign countries by the millions of tons?
Because those foreign countries have lower standards and don't adequately protect their inhabitants. My wife works for the South Florida Water Management District, and they keep a close eye on the Mercury levels in the Everglades. My understanding is that there is plenty of mercury in the muck that makes up the floor of the Everglades, but it stays there and out of the fish unless it is disturbed. She heads up the scientific team that monitors the Everglades for this kind of stuff. The "official" stand is that the fish are not unhealthy. I fish in the Everglades, but only catch and release. I only have one brain, I don't need help destroying it. I do enough in that regard already. Time to add a little Jim Beam to my glass ::).
Mercury is a touchy issue.
The type of mercury and the bioavailability of that type of mercury plays a big part in human absorption into the body. Then there is also the amount of selenium in the fish that you are eating. Selenium can bind with the mercury so it doesn't get absorbed into the body.
None of us will be running those tests before each meal.
If your local waterway, fishing hole, etc has a ban of keeping fish for mercury or other heavy metals, toxins, etc.; the ban exists for a good reason and that is public health. Children can have developmental issues, the scraps can be put into a garden and be used for fertilizer which now pollutes more groundwater and the vegetables.
Don't take the risk. That is like saying that 1 person smoked till 90 and was fit as a fiddle so therefore smoking is not suicidal behavior and everyone should light up. Many of the people that we all know who ate fish from these waters (and nothing happened???) were likely NEVER tested for mercury and subsequently don't know what impact that it had on their bodies. They might have died from other issues that mercury exacerbated or weakened the body allowing other illnesses to take hold that might not have taken hold normally.