Some fish consumption advice needed

[cruiser1234]

Hello all. Had a quick question and wanted some opinions. My brother in law has asked for a catfish for the table and I'm thinking of hitting up the D & R canal in the south Brunswick area. I was looking for thoughts on eating fish out of it. Any input is greatly appreciated. I would think its fine and when I searched it on the nj consumer advisory site it seemed like it was ok too.

[Ash]

Originally Posted by cruiser1234

Hello all. Had a quick question and wanted some opinions. My brother in law has asked for a catfish for the table and I'm thinking of hitting up the D & R canal in the south Brunswick area. I was looking for thoughts on eating fish out of it. Any input is greatly appreciated. I would think its fine and when I searched it on the nj consumer advisory site it seemed like it was ok too.

seeing as the canal provides drinking water to a large portion of central nj, i'd say you're okay as long as you follow the guidelines you've already looked at.

[AndyS]

If the fish LOOKS healthy I say go for it. If the fish has fuzzy fins, growths, sores, etc. I would say toss it into the woods.
You have the advantage, you get to see the fish up close and personal after it has been caught.

[ATH1089]

Originally Posted by AndyS

If the fish LOOKS healthy I say go for it. If the fish has fuzzy fins, growths, sores, etc. I would say toss it into the woods.
You have the advantage, you get to see the fish up close and personal after it has been caught.

Indeed. Moving water (streams, rivers, etc) are usually pretty clean, as contaminants are washed away regularly. But you should always consume on a fish-by-fish basis. They do not call it dirty Jersey for nothing.

[Wilson]

jmurr eats them and he's perfectly normal

[jmurr711]

Originally Posted by Wilson

jmurr eats them and he's perfectly normal

yeah! hey wait a minute!!!!!!!!!

[Eskimo]

.

Good question.
Page 15 of this advisory report will give you all the information you need about fish from the D&R canal.
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/2012-advisory-report.pdf

It looks like you should be fine with less than one meal per month if you're not a high risk individual.

Unfortunately, methyl mercury is ubiquitous here in New Jersey. The fish that have the highest levels of mercury and PCBs are the predators that live a long time and eat a lot of fish like bass and pickerel. Those toxins are trapped in small fish and passed up the food chain. The predators multiply the background levels of mercury thousands of times by eating hundreds of small fish in their lifetime.

I caused some controversy on the New Jersey Hunter forum a few years back when some guy was showing off pictures of all the Largemouth Bass he was taking home and feeding to his kids. I told him that those bass contained high levels of mercury and children, with their developing neurological systems, are far more sensitive to mercury contamination than adults. I told him that it was unethical to feed Largemouth bass to children because they can't understand the decision that is being made for them.

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by AndyS

If the fish LOOKS healthy I say go for it. If the fish has fuzzy fins, growths, sores, etc. I would say toss it into the woods.
You have the advantage, you get to see the fish up close and personal after it has been caught.

While that might work ok for parasites or disease, it doesn't tell you about PCBs or other chemical contaminants that the fish might contain. These can exist in levels that the fish (a much simpler organism than a human) can tolerate without external signs of damage. Best bet is to check the Fish Smart Eat Smart page for freshwater fish consumption advisories. They haven't had a chance to test every type of fish at every location, but they have tested enough to give you a good idea what is safe and what might not be. It's sad that we need to, but with New Jersey's heavily industrialized past, it is important that any fisherman who takes things home for the table check it often.

Fish Smart Eat Smart NJ Main Page - http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/njmainfish.htm

There isn't a specific listing for the D&R canal in Middlesex county, but upstream from you in Somerset county (http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/fisha.../somerset.htm), carp are heavily restricted with healthy people suggested to not eat more than 4 meals per year and high risk people (pregnant women, kids, the elderly) suggested not to eat it at all. Being that channel cats would be hanging out looking for their food in the muddy canal bottom similar to how the carp do, I would expect their contamination levels to be similar... So I would not eat a channel catfish out of the canal.

You could also contact DFW and they will be happy to help you with your question. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/contactform.htm When I wanted to know if crawfish were safe to eat, they got back to me real quick with an answer (just as safe as bluegills from the same water body)

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

The fish that have the highest levels of mercury and PCBs are the predators that live a long time and eat a lot of fish like bass and pickerel. Those toxins are trapped in small fish and passed up the food chain. The predators multiply the background levels of mercury thousands of times by eating hundreds of small fish in their lifetime.

exactly... biomagnification.
and one more reason to like fast growing, hard fighting, clean living panfish!

[dogfish246]

Originally Posted by cruiser1234

Hello all. Had a quick question and wanted some opinions. My brother in law has asked for a catfish for the table and I'm thinking of hitting up the D & R canal in the south Brunswick area. I was looking for thoughts on eating fish out of it. Any input is greatly appreciated. I would think its fine and when I searched it on the nj consumer advisory site it seemed like it was ok too.

I personally wouldnt eat it. I always read/ was taught not to eat freshwater fish from NJ...