Fish Contamination

https://phys.org/news/2023-01-wild-fish-month-tainted.html

I just saw this article. Man, I've been focusing on small trout due to all the high level of mercury for other fish. Not sure what to make of this for now but I thought I would share the article.

Interesting.  Makes sense, many of our reservoirs are downstream from farms.  I wonder if there is any data on farmed/stocked/wild fish, and which species are more likely to be impacted? 

Interesting.  Makes sense, many of our reservoirs are downstream from farms.  I wonder if there is any data on farmed/stocked/wild fish, and which species are more likely to be impacted? 

I poked around the data used for this study -- looks like there were two sources:

National Coastal Condition Assessment Great Lakes Human Health Fish Tissue Studies
only contains data on fish collected from the great lakes

2013-2014 National Rivers and Streams Assessment Fish Tissue Study
Contains data from fish collected around contiguous US; the CA sample consisted of one rainbow trout and 25 largemouth bass.

Unless my interpretation of these data are incorrect (I spent ~5 minutes on this, so massive grain of salt), I'm not sure that these data are super representative of CA fish. However, I do think that we should all be alarmed by this.... PFAS is some nasty shit.

I wonder what the levels are for typical nearshore fish, i.e. rock fish and lingcod. I am assuming lower due to decreased concentration in the ocean vs local lakes with more exposure to chemicals, factories, etc.

I wonder what the levels are for typical nearshore fish, i.e. rock fish and lingcod. I am assuming lower due to decreased concentration in the ocean vs local lakes with more exposure to chemicals, factories, etc.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/11/forever-chemicals-killing-whales-harming-humans-strandings-bans

Choose your poison, we are all gonna die

Damn, can't get away from it. Nevermind, I'm going fishing!!!

Damn, can't get away from it. Nevermind, I'm going fishing!!!

I'll still take my chances in the ocean and I might catch and release halibut in the bay this season due to the recent contaminations.

Damn, can't get away from it. Nevermind, I'm going fishing!!!

I'll still take my chances in the ocean and I might catch and release halibut in the bay this season due to the recent contaminations.

Recent contaminations?  From the flooding, or something else?

Damn, can't get away from it. Nevermind, I'm going fishing!!!

I'll still take my chances in the ocean and I might catch and release halibut in the bay this season due to the recent contaminations.

Recent contaminations?  From the flooding, or something else?

San Francisco discharges untreated sewage during heavy rains.

SF and maybe other sewage treatment plants combine rain runoff with sewage.  A Santa Clara County sewage plant used to allow sewage to flow into a waterway, sometimes on the roadway.

Oh, the sewage, of course. This isn't just a recent problem - it's been happening for years.  I thought there was maybe something more sinister recently from the flooding.

Can you imagine all the sewage and debri that is being flushed into the bays and ocean from all the flooding from all the less fortunate that live near the waterways and under bridges.

This has been happening forever. Believe it or not things are much better now than they used to be.  Sewage treatment plant overflows happen on the bay nearly every year.

Sent from my LM-G850 using Tapatalk

The study in the OP is about the prevalence of forever chemicals in inland fish -- particularly the great lakes. I'm not so concerned about the local overflows for fin fish but shellfish and other filter feeders are definitely off the menu for a bit.

Cheers,
Brad

I know the state does somewhat regular testing of fin fish and shell fish to keep their consumption charts as up to date as possible.  I think the last one for the Bay was in 2018 or something.  I would be interested to see one in 2023, and testing all species normally caught by both commercial and rec fishing.  I've heard a lot of different theories on how different fish process/collect/store these chemicals, usually revolving around what the fish eats and how long they live, and would love to see a study that examines this. 

While I think knowing what we are eating/exposed to is important, I also think that we (as a society) tend to get a bit too alarmist about stuff that we can't change.  They are testing fish for mercury levels - mercury that was introduced into our waterways over 100 years ago from the hydraulic mining up in gold country.  They also test for PCBs - common pollutants in fertilizers and pesticides - which are continuously being introduced to our waterways through our agriculture processes. 

I know that many ocean species are also on the watchlist for mercury. 

I have friends who will only eat farmed fish for this very reason.  I don't eat a lot of fish caught in the bay, and no sharks/rays/shellfish.  I think this spring/summer I am going to focus on halibut in the ocean vice the bay - not because of the pollution, but because I want to get better at targeting fish in the ocean.