Revised consumption bans....

[Do It]

....saw this on another board and thought I would pass it on. Didn't see a date so I'm not sure exactly how new it is but it had a few in it that I was not aware of.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations ... bans.phtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

D.

[5x5]

....saw this on another board and thought I would pass it on. Didn't see a date so I'm not sure exactly how new it is but it had a few in it that I was not aware of.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations ... bans.phtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

D.

Seems to me that if these advisories were really valid, they would shut down all commercial fishing.

[Alsatian]

....saw this on another board and thought I would pass it on. Didn't see a date so I'm not sure exactly how new it is but it had a few in it that I was not aware of.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations ... bans.phtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

D.

yeah, I saw that the other day. A friend emailed it me as I was packing 30 pounds of blackfin into the freezer. Which brings up another question, anyone have any good tuna recipes?

[flyguy66]

It's a new health advisory put out last week and updated this week. The TX Dept of Health does these, and they nor TPWD can shut down commercial fishing beyond the state waters boundary. TPWD just re-posts these warnings as a public service. The feds can do it out to international waters, but no one can do it beyond there.

In the Marlin tissue samples in this recent survey, the Mercury content was more than 16 times the safe consumption level. Tuna and sharks were 1.5 to 6 times the safe levels. Mackerel was also significantly above the safe level.

These advisories are one of the few things government does RIGHT. They advise the public of reality and allow people to make their own choices. Selling contaminated fish is already illegal. The FDA monitors the commercial food supply. Commercial fishing interests take significant risks if they try to sell possibly contaminated fish. So they tend to change their harvest strategies when stuff like this comes out. It costs a lot of money to find, catch, and bring fish to market. If you can't sell what you catch, you're broke in no time flat.

FYI, commercial fish samples are the #1 source for this health data. Recreational samples make up a small portion of the data. So the commercial fishermen are the first to know when something is wrong and it already cost some of them a bunch of money. So word spreads fast.

[5x5]

My point is that they are saying that the water is so polluted that we should only eat 1 fillet a month . If this is true, then we should not be even going into the water.

And eating a dozen oysters should be a death sentence . Maybe they should stop all the dredging since that will stir up the contaminants.

[Jason21]

Thanks for sharing the info! I often see these kinds of posts on other fishing forums and im suprised to see how many fisherman still keep the fish knowing there is an advisory for that area.

[flyguy66]

My point is that they are saying that the water is so polluted that we should only eat 1 fillet a month . If this is true, then we should not be even going into the water.

And eating a dozen oysters should be a death sentence . Maybe they should stop all the dredging since that will stir up the contaminants.

Heavy metals accumulate in tissue over time. A fish stock can be contaminated with heavy metals without the water being dangerous. It's about what they eat over time. I agree with you in so far as that this serious and broad of a heavy metal contamination advisory is a signal that something much bigger might be amiss, but it could also be an anomaly. Science doesn't do knee-jerk reactions. People do that.

My typical response to negative scientific data is not to dismiss it, but to try and put it into a larger fact-based context. Pelagic fish species don't eat oysters, for example. They feed on wide-ranging schools of bait fish. Those bait fish...in turn...feed on smaller aquatic species, mostly off shore. There is no in-shore species advisory, but that doesn't mean there is nothing wrong. As we know, the whole marine food chain is related. But the question is: where is the mercury coming from? Where is it introduced into the food chain?

For now, we should probably just pay attention and see what more data tells us over time. Personally, we are limiting our consumption of all fish harvested in the region until further notice, but we just ate a Redfish two days ago...post-advisory. If we had kids, we wouldn't let them eat ANY Gulf fish until further info becomes available. But these are personal choices each of us have to make. Heavy metal poisoning is no joke. That's for sure.

[Nsea]

I'm glad you asked the question, "Where is the mercury coming from?". There is a long answer and short answer.

The short, coal fired power plants and some burning of fossil fuels but not to the extent of coal. Also your "green" energy efficient CFL bulbs in your home, possibly right next to you. Gold mining operations way back had a major role and in most third world countries still do.

Long, It exists as mercuric sulfides aka cinnabar, it has a reddish color and exists along side many hydrocarbons, nobody knows why but it does. If you have ever driven though coal country USA you will sometimes see veins of red coming out the rock, thats cinnabar. When incinerated in the power plant the bonds are broken and you get free mercury that floats around in the atmosphere and eventually sinks back down to the ground and is swept into the waterways. Elemental mercury is not as bad for you as its compounds, its when exposed to UV radiation that it becomes organic as methlymercury and in the presence of chlorine becomes mercuric chloride, these compounds are neurotoxins and are particularly detrimental to pregnant women or women with the intentions of becoming pregnant and children. It also effects reproductive organs in men.

Mercury compounds in the water are picked up by the filter feeders in tiny quantities which are eaten by bigger and bigger fish. While it's a small amount of mercury in the little fish, big fish have to eat a lot of little fish to get that way, this process is called Biomagnification.

It's true women and children should limit their swordfish, mackerel etc consumption but for the old salts who have had their day, you are probably good to eat up. You may experience some limited mad hatter disease but that'll be disguised as senility.

Also, each CFL lightbulb in your house can contain anywhere from 2-5 mg of mercury. If one is broken, do not take it lightly! That is a direct hazardous environment. I have personally responded to a call where a crate of bulbs was broken at retail store and had to shut the place down. The sad thing is that only 15% of CFL bulbs are disposed of properly. Way to go green movement, now every household in America now has a potentially hazardous material lurking in the corner that no one knew about. Another tip of the hat to Mr. Gore.

Geez, I feel like I'm at work. Wait, I am.

[karstopo]

http://water.usgs.gov/wid/FS_216-95/FS_216-95.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This link gives some of the facts about Mercury contamination. Long and short of it is some comes from the coal burned to generate power, some from natural sources like volcanoes. Human activity has increased the natural pre-human concentrations by two to three times it is estimated.

PCB and Dioxin and organophosphates are as I understand it 100% man made. These should decrease in the environment over time as most if not all use and production of these chemicals has been halted.

Top of the food chain predators accumulate these toxins by eating lots of small prey with minuscule amounts of contaminants. The contaminants never leave the predator so as the grow and age they continue to accumulate more of the toxin. Marlin, big tuna, swordfish, would be especially bad as they prey on higher up the food chain prey that has higher concentrations of toxins itself.

[cudagreg]

dang thats a long list, didnt see red fish anywhere, i wonder why

Thanks for sharing the info! I often see these kinds of posts on other fishing forums and im suprised to see how many fisherman still keep the fish knowing there is an advisory for that area.

i fish more for the sport than the food. just my 2 cents

[karstopo]

Here is that link to an article that tested people who ate fish they caught and people who at canned tuna. All had elevated mercury levels. Some 10 times the acceptable level. http://www.al.com/specialreport/mobiler ... erc23.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[On The Bay]

I think the advisory is good to know about but I think it is a little over done. You have to completely over do eating fishing that may be contaminated for you to show any symptoms.

Here is an example.....Actor Jermey Pivon ate sushi twice a day for nearly 20 years. In 2008 he was diagnosed with having 6 times the safe level of mercury. He has been cured and does not eat sushi. He had to eat a ton of sushi for a very long time to get symptoms

My point is to eat fish in moderation. I think their advice on having only 8 oz per month is to conservative. Also, the country that has the most Centenarians (people older than 100) living in it is Japan. What do they eat?.........a crap load of fish and other species from the ocean......go figure.

The key to life is moderation.....there is nothing in this world that cant hurt you if done/consumed way more than the norm.

[Alsatian]

dang thats a long list, didnt see red fish anywhere, i wonder why

Thanks for sharing the info! I often see these kinds of posts on other fishing forums and im suprised to see how many fisherman still keep the fish knowing there is an advisory for that area.

i fish more for the sport than the food. just my 2 cents

He was referring to me keeping 30 pounds of tuna, wait, make it 28 pounds now. I'll follow the advisory, kids won't eat it and we only have it once (maybe twice) a month anyway, plus we give a lot away. I still didn't get any recipes. Oh well, raw is good.

[5x5]

As I recall from college, sunlight is what breaks down the methyl mercury. The problem in seawater is that it is tightly bound to the Cl atoms and the sunlight does not break it down easily.

And if you really want to get your mind twisted, a canadien study showed that the ocean itself converted the relatively harmless inorganic mercury to methyl mercury in the artic.

If PCBs are rising, they are getting stirred up from dredging.

[billy bobba]

dang thats a long list, didnt see red fish anywhere, i wonder why

Toxins in certain game fish could spark a closer look

http://www.caller.com/news/2011/jun/08/ ... r/?print=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[billy bobba]

If PCBs are rising, they are getting stirred up from dredging.

If dredging stirs up accumulated heavy metals, etc. - then we can look forward to a veritable arse load in the near future for the Redfish Bay area.

http://www.portofcorpuschristi.com/inde ... nt-project" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[karstopo]

I think the advisory is good to know about but I think it is a little over done. You have to completely over do eating fishing that may be contaminated for you to show any symptoms.

Here is an example.....Actor Jermey Pivon ate sushi twice a day for nearly 20 years. In 2008 he was diagnosed with having 6 times the safe level of mercury. He has been cured and does not eat sushi. He had to eat a ton of sushi for a very long time to get symptoms

My point is to eat fish in moderation. I think their advice on having only 8 oz per month is to conservative. Also, the country that has the most Centenarians (people older than 100) living in it is Japan. What do they eat?.........a crap load of fish and other species from the ocean......go figure.

The key to life is moderation.....there is nothing in this world that cant hurt you if done/consumed way more than the norm.

That is a very good point about Japan and longevity. It would be interesting to look at some of these societies famous for longevity and assess their Mercury levels.

[DX2]

I understand some folks maybe concern about mercury in fish . I know its isn't good for pregnant women to eat fish/seafood while pregnant etc.etc. but in highschool I watched a student drink yes drink every bit of 4oz of mercury in science class lol and refused to get medical treatment & he is still kicking .But I wouldn't try it or eat tons of toxic infused fish

[ecofly]

There is no in-shore species advisory,

There are lots actually.



If anyone is interested, I own a bunch of domain names I want to offload. Some are:
-fishtestingkit.com
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...and the list goes on and on. I pretty much have had the market cornered for 10 years or so. (Is there a market?) If anyone wants to take one or some off of my hands let me know. It would be pretty cool to have a marketable fish testing kit for individuals.

[flyguy66]

There is no in-shore species advisory,

There are lots actually.

Sorry, I wasn't clear with that comment. What I was referring to was a lack of in-shore species on THAT advisory.

[5x5]

There is no in-shore species advisory,

There are lots actually.

Sorry, I wasn't clear with that comment. What I was referring to was a lack of in-shore species on THAT advisory.

That is because mercury breaks down in fresh water and does not build up in the fish like it does in salt water.

Dioxin on the other hand is usually worse in fresh water.

[engineer]

I'm glad you asked the question, "Where is the mercury coming from?". There is a long answer and short answer.

The short, coal fired power plants and some burning of fossil fuels but not to the extent of coal. Also your "green" energy efficient CFL bulbs in your home, possibly right next to you. Gold mining operations way back had a major role and in most third world countries still do.

Long,........

Excellent post, very informative. The accumulation of mercury within the human body is one of the reasons I limit my [type of] fish consumption. People should treat these fish advisories seriously, but as a previous poster suggested, moderation is likely the best method for managing the risk.

[MRSRIDE]

Great info, thanks for keeping it out in the open... when you know better you do better.