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What's your take on mercury in fish?


TNtoMN_HuntFish

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In no way am I trying to fire up a catch and release vs catch and grease fight.  Admins, please delete any comments like that. I am curious about everyone's thoughts and knowledge on mercury in fish. 

 

It seems Walleye are always the riskiest fish to eat via DNR and MDH surveys but I know the fishing for eyes is such a tradition up here. A lot of walleye are eaten in Minnesota every year as well as Pike and Bass which also can be high in mercury because they are high on the food chain. Does anyone worry about it or is this something that is overhyped? I'm a bit careful where I fish because my wife is pregant and I don't want her eating too much mercury. I'm still kinda new to the state so I trust the knowledge of locals more so than DNR in a lot of situations. 

 

For example, in TN (where I moved from) our DNR says do not eat ANY fish from the Mississippi river. I'd say it's pretty nasty by the time it gets that far south but there are river rats as far down as Louisiana eating catfish and bass all year long and you don't hear of them dying from mercury poisoning or having other effects of it. At least not thay I've heard or read. 

 

I'm very curious to know your opinions on the matter. I don't catch many walleye anyway but I do love eating Pike and other fish. It's so satisfying to work hard for a fresh meal but do I have to continue to be super cautious of what lakes I eat a Pike from? Seems like the closer to the metro, the more dangerous it can be...or is it? Some of the huge lakes up North are full of mercury too. 

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not something I consider when eating as I don't eat fish weekly.  I feed them to my kids and my wife ate it while pregnant.  Not sure if there really is a concern or not but the basic guidelines are out there more for kids and pregnant women.  Unless you are eating fish daily or every other day then I don't think you need to worry a whole bunch.  Heck if you die because of mercury poisoning from eating too many fish, well at least you had one hell of a time before you died! HAHAHA

 

A few years back a local lake close to the metro started producing a lot of crappies and people drove all over to fish.  A lot of fish were taken and eaten.  The lake had been traditionally known as a dumping pond for farm runoff and other things like that...I ate a limit or 2 from said lake and never had issues with anything and the fish tasted like they should.  Point being that unless they say "DON'T EAT FISH FROM THIS LAKE" just follow the state guidelines for your kids and prego wife but other than that enjoy a meal or 2 a week if you are lucky to catch enough!!  Good Luck- Ozzie

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7 hours ago, ozzie said:

not something I consider when eating as I don't eat fish weekly.  I feed them to my kids and my wife ate it while pregnant.  Not sure if there really is a concern or not but the basic guidelines are out there more for kids and pregnant women.  Unless you are eating fish daily or every other day then I don't think you need to worry a whole bunch.  Heck if you die because of mercury poisoning from eating too many fish, well at least you had one hell of a time before you died! HAHAHA

 

A few years back a local lake close to the metro started producing a lot of crappies and people drove all over to fish.  A lot of fish were taken and eaten.  The lake had been traditionally known as a dumping pond for farm runoff and other things like that...I ate a limit or 2 from said lake and never had issues with anything and the fish tasted like they should.  Point being that unless they say "DON'T EAT FISH FROM THIS LAKE" just follow the state guidelines for your kids and prego wife but other than that enjoy a meal or 2 a week if you are lucky to catch enough!!  Good Luck- Ozzie

Lake Francis :lol:

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7 hours ago, ZachD said:

Lake Francis :lol:

Ha, I've read stories about that lake being filthy. And I know about those warnings on the link you posted I just wonder if this stuff is blown out of proportion. Reason being I can't find any confirmed cases of people having mercury poisoning from eating freshwater fish. I know mercury poisoning does exist but can we really get it from fish? You'd think if we could then there would be cases down south where folks are eating catfish from the Mississippi. 

 

We ate a few 30+" Pike during the ice season, I ate more than my wife, and I only did that from lakes that are safer according to DNR and MDH fish tissue surveys. I kept it to once a week for her and I ate the rest. I went over the one meal a week rule several times for myself, but then went a while without taking home fish while the season was closed. I'm not glowing yet haha. 

 

I also don't understand why walleye are always the riskiest fish to eat per those surveys when Pike are above them on the food chain. 

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15 hours ago, TNtoMN_HuntFish said:

Ha, I've read stories about that lake being filthy. And I know about those warnings on the link you posted I just wonder if this stuff is blown out of proportion. Reason being I can't find any confirmed cases of people having mercury poisoning from eating freshwater fish. I know mercury poisoning does exist but can we really get it from fish? You'd think if we could then there would be cases down south where folks are eating catfish from the Mississippi. 

 

We ate a few 30+" Pike during the ice season, I ate more than my wife, and I only did that from lakes that are safer according to DNR and MDH fish tissue surveys. I kept it to once a week for her and I ate the rest. I went over the one meal a week rule several times for myself, but then went a while without taking home fish while the season was closed. I'm not glowing yet haha. 

 

I also don't understand why walleye are always the riskiest fish to eat per those surveys when Pike are above them on the food chain. 

(Too much mercury may affect a child’s behavior and lead to learning problems later in life.)

That would explain some of the backwoods people

 

 

All jokes aside I would limit it to one serving a month for being pregnant or breast feeding for Bass, Catfish, Trout, Walleye, northern like they say

 

"Young children (under 15 years old) and fetuses are more sensitive to mercury. Too much mercury can cause lasting problems with understanding and learning. But studies show children benefit developmentally when moms eat fish low in mercury during pregnancy. "

 

Just because you are not glowing doesn't mean its necessarily healthy for a fetus it takes awhile for it to build up in a healthy adult that's just my :2c: 

 

 

 

 

Methylmercury exposure in Wisconsin: A case study series” (2005)
This articles describes exposure of 14 people who at fish two times a week or more and one person who ate no fish. "Three of the individuals reported vague subclinical symptoms such as mental confusion, sleep difficulty, balance problems, or visual disturbances, which improved after their mercury levels returned to

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/26/2017 at 10:18 AM, TNtoMN_HuntFish said:

In no way am I trying to fire up a catch and release vs catch and grease fight.  Admins, please delete any comments like that. I am curious about everyone's thoughts and knowledge on mercury in fish. 

 

It seems Walleye are always the riskiest fish to eat via DNR and MDH surveys but I know the fishing for eyes is such a tradition up here. A lot of walleye are eaten in Minnesota every year as well as Pike and Bass which also can be high in mercury because they are high on the food chain. Does anyone worry about it or is this something that is overhyped? I'm a bit careful where I fish because my wife is pregant and I don't want her eating too much mercury. I'm still kinda new to the state so I trust the knowledge of locals more so than DNR in a lot of situations. 

 

For example, in TN (where I moved from) our DNR says do not eat ANY fish from the Mississippi river. I'd say it's pretty nasty by the time it gets that far south but there are river rats as far down as Louisiana eating catfish and bass all year long and you don't hear of them dying from mercury poisoning or having other effects of it. At least not thay I've heard or read. 

 

I'm very curious to know your opinions on the matter. I don't catch many walleye anyway but I do love eating Pike and other fish. It's so satisfying to work hard for a fresh meal but do I have to continue to be super cautious of what lakes I eat a Pike from? Seems like the closer to the metro, the more dangerous it can be...or is it? Some of the huge lakes up North are full of mercury too. 

Better safe than sorry. Many doctors don't recommend pregnant women to eat fish for that reason of the mercury contents. 

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The issue is how much fish you eat total over a long period of time.   So if you eat a few meals a year, I wouldn't worry one bit.  If you are chowing down year around, that is different. 

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On 8/1/2017 at 0:56 PM, delcecchi said:

The issue is how much fish you eat total over a long period of time.   So if you eat a few meals a year, I wouldn't worry one bit.  If you are chowing down year around, that is different. 

Definitely more than a few meals a year. A few a month during summer and Winter, not as much in the Fall. This Summer I've eaten most of the Pike and Bass and my wife ate Bluegills and some Pike. 

 

This is where my skepticism comes in. There are plenty of people eating more than one meal per month of Walleye in Minnesota and we have no cases of mercury poisoning. In the South where the recommendation is not to eat anything ever from the Mississippi, there are plenty of folks eating catfish year round and no mercury poisoning. 

 

This wouldn't be the first time the "experts" massively blew it with advice on what to and not to eat (saturated fat) so I don't blindly just trust them. I know what the recommendation is but I'm not sure I believe it and wondered if you all did or didn't. 

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