The Dangers of Eating Fish

I wish headlines like this were just shock tactics meant to get you to read. I plead not-guilty, I swear. And as evidence to back up the severity of claims like, "never eat anything that comes from the water ever again," check out the map to the right. That's the Chesapeake Bay. Now, I'm not a psychologist or an advertising executive, but I can tell you that the color red is generally not a good sign.

In this case I'm right. The red area, which is the entire Bay in the grand Commonwealth of Virginia, is a fish consumption advisory zone. The culprit? PCBs. Granted the use of PCBs was banned in 1977, they seeped into the soil and ground water and bind to organic materials that gamefish might ingest. It's been 30 years, but it will take a lot longer before they're flushed out of the ecosytem.

Other problems are fertilizer and pesticides. Agricultural run-off has flooded our waters along both coastlines with nasty compounds that make their way into the fish food chain. For now most commercial species are safe enough. But for me, that doesn't cut it. When I read that I should limit myself to a mere two servings of any number of fish types per month from the Chesapeake, that's basically a big, waving red (oooh, there's that color again) flag that I shouldn't get anywhere near a filet.

Why stop with two? The list of toxins goes on and on.Probably the nastiest and most widespread threat to saltwater and fresh water alike is the build-up of mercury in the skin and bones of gamefish. Bottom line: gross.

Fear not fellow anlgers. The news may be dire today, but our efficient and streamlined federal government is on this issue like they were with intelligence gathering before the Iraq War. On second thought, the EPA set up a website that catalogs every fish advisory across the nation. And, they even have information for Guam, Puerto Rico and American Samoa. How's that for being helpful?

This link will take you to a map. Click on your state or territory and you'll find details on all the pollution issues affecting your home waters. Oh, but don't read them if you've got a tuna steak on the grill.

Take these warnings and advisories and scary maps as a chance to get involved. Your local fishing hole almost certainly has a conservation association working to clean it up.

In the interim, sardines are about the only sure thing for eating, so crack open a tin and slurp a few of them down.