09-04-2013, 01:31 PM
[#0000FF]If I am keeping cats for the table or the smoker I usually set an arbitrary size limit of under 24 inches. Smaller is better. Seldom keep anything under about 18 unless fishing is really slow.
The increasing levels of PCBs in larger catfish is a matter of age, rather than size. Like carp, cats live longer than most of the other species...like walleyes, white bass, crappies, etc. The accumulation of PCBs in the flesh increases over time. Fish younger than about 4 or 5 years do not typically have enough PCB to cross the "safe" line.
I have kept and consumed a few cats larger than 24 inches. But the way I prepare and cook them helps to remove a fair amount of any PCBs in those fish. These compounds tend to accumulate in the viscera (guts) and the oils of the fish. The simple act of cleaning or filleting removes a percentage. Then, if you slice out the yellow oily strip along the upper part of each fillet...and remove the dark strip of flesh along the lateral line...you remove even more.
Most of the common ways of cooking catfish also help remove even more PCBs. Deep frying leeches out oils from the flesh. Ditto for grilling fillets over high heat...in a wire basket on the grill. And when you smoke cats for a long time there is very little oil remaining in the final product. I wrap my newly smoked fillets in paper towels in the refrigerator for a day or so after smoking to soak up any residual oil.
All of this is based upon not only the reports from the advisory agencies but from personal discussions with biologists and knowledgeable medical folks who better understand the nature of PCBs and the physiology of catkind. Most of them agree that by harvesting smaller (younger) fish and by properly preparing them you will reduce the level of PCB far below what is considered to be worthy of an advisory.
None of us should be complacent about ingesting any fish with contaminants that can cause medical problems...or worse. But when it comes to PCBs in Utah Lake fish, there is a lot of leeway. None of the protective agencies can produce irrefutable evidence of any specific ailments or afflictions caused by PCBs...at various levels of "exposure". And I have also been unable to find any evidence of any family in Utah that has ever had a medical problem diagnosed as resulting from eating PCB laden fish from Utah Lake.
Mercury is another matter. Methyl mercury is nasty stuff and has lots of case study evidence on the negative effects of accumulation in human tissues.
But, the potential problems with catfish are more related to PCBs than mercury.
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The increasing levels of PCBs in larger catfish is a matter of age, rather than size. Like carp, cats live longer than most of the other species...like walleyes, white bass, crappies, etc. The accumulation of PCBs in the flesh increases over time. Fish younger than about 4 or 5 years do not typically have enough PCB to cross the "safe" line.
I have kept and consumed a few cats larger than 24 inches. But the way I prepare and cook them helps to remove a fair amount of any PCBs in those fish. These compounds tend to accumulate in the viscera (guts) and the oils of the fish. The simple act of cleaning or filleting removes a percentage. Then, if you slice out the yellow oily strip along the upper part of each fillet...and remove the dark strip of flesh along the lateral line...you remove even more.
Most of the common ways of cooking catfish also help remove even more PCBs. Deep frying leeches out oils from the flesh. Ditto for grilling fillets over high heat...in a wire basket on the grill. And when you smoke cats for a long time there is very little oil remaining in the final product. I wrap my newly smoked fillets in paper towels in the refrigerator for a day or so after smoking to soak up any residual oil.
All of this is based upon not only the reports from the advisory agencies but from personal discussions with biologists and knowledgeable medical folks who better understand the nature of PCBs and the physiology of catkind. Most of them agree that by harvesting smaller (younger) fish and by properly preparing them you will reduce the level of PCB far below what is considered to be worthy of an advisory.
None of us should be complacent about ingesting any fish with contaminants that can cause medical problems...or worse. But when it comes to PCBs in Utah Lake fish, there is a lot of leeway. None of the protective agencies can produce irrefutable evidence of any specific ailments or afflictions caused by PCBs...at various levels of "exposure". And I have also been unable to find any evidence of any family in Utah that has ever had a medical problem diagnosed as resulting from eating PCB laden fish from Utah Lake.
Mercury is another matter. Methyl mercury is nasty stuff and has lots of case study evidence on the negative effects of accumulation in human tissues.
But, the potential problems with catfish are more related to PCBs than mercury.
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