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[#0000FF]There was an article in this mornings Salt Lake Tribune by Brett Prettyman about more mercury advisories in Utah. [url "http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58473302-78/fish-utah-mercury-bass.html.csp"]LINK TO ARTICLE[/url]
Flaming Gorge smallies are a new addition, as are Tiger Muskies from some waters.
There are also links in the article to websites on state advisories and mercury findings.
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That must be the cause of headaches in the hot summer weather. The mercury in my body rises to my brain like mercury in a thermometer. I knew it was something like that.
Im kidding of course. Thanks for the update.
Before people get to crazy about the reports however they should read the studies. Sometimes the mercury in store bought salmon, sword fish and some other fish is higher than the levels they find in our wild fish.
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Something to be aware of whether caught or Store bought. But add to that any thing else processed[:/]
I recently read the "certain" Hot Pockets are not fit for human consumption.
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Much ado about damn little, if you ask me. It's a lot like "xxx causes cancer in lab rats!" and everybody panics - until they learn that to get cancer, the rats had to be force fed a pound of xxx a day, which is 1,000 times more than they'd eat naturally.
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That does simplify a lot...too bad it isn't always the case.[cool]
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[#0000FF]I just passed on the link without editorializing. But I agree that for MOST folks there is not that much about which to be concerned. I am in the over age 16, not pregnant category so as per the stats I should be in little danger after eating the occasional dink smallie. But those pregnant 6 year olds really have more to worry about than mercury in their fish.
Many long years ago I was living in Santa Barbara, CA and doing some commercial sword fishing with a buddy who owned the boat. We returned from one jaunt with several hefty swordfish and were told at the dock that they couldn't buy our fish. There was a new ban on swordfish because of recent findings of elevated levels of mercury.
My buddy ended up losing his boat. The "rest of the story" is that about six months later the ban was lifted after it was found that swordfish caught and preserved for study over a hundred years before had even higher levels of mercury.
When I lived in New Orleans there were lots of jokes about how night fishing was so easy. The fish absorbed so much toxic waste from up and down the Mississippi that they all glowed in the dark.
Also like the suggestion that if the fish soak up any more mercury we can use them as thermometers. The thought of using them "down there" is a YIKES moment. Those smallies are spiny.
Yeah, I don't think I'd like to be a lab rat.
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I'm all for avoiding methylmercury within reason. It is a known poison at least above certain levels and large exposure as a fetus have been shown to lower IQ. Having said that I agree this is much ado about damn little. Besides extreme cases usually the result of dumping mercury into the waterway directly the science of what happens to those that eat lots of fish regardless of mercury content doesn't support anything other than a net benefit. This does include several studies on pregnant women and their offspring. The women that eat more fish have children with higher IQs. The harm of avoiding fish in pregnancy would appear greater than the harm of the mercury in such fish. The problem is these warnings make many overly worried about mercury in fish. They avoid fish and lose the known benefits of reducing heart disease and having smarter children over a still theoretically concern at the levels they're likely to consume. My yellowtail tuna has great last night[laugh].
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[quote flygoddess]Something to be aware of whether caught or Store bought. But add to that any thing else processed[:/]
I recently read the "certain" Hot Pockets are not fit for human consumption.[/quote]
Just my opinion, but all Hot Pockets are unfit for human consumption, unless you need and don't have any ipecac.
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All the more reason to harvest the smaller smallies that haven't yet bioaccumulated much mercury versus taking the larger bass that have been sopping up the mercury for years. (seriously)
(At least I hope so , I've eaten enough small advisory smallies this year for me to take my kids temperature by touch otherwise).
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