fishinthedacks Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 So I picked up the new New York regulations guide. Typically in one lake I fish they have always said up until last year that any fish was safe to eat the state reccomended limit of 4 of each per month. This year they are saying smallies and walleye are 1 a month and not at all for kids under 15 and women under 50?! All of a sudden in one year? And only these two fish? The DEC gives very little info on why they did this. I know their diets are different etc but why can I eat 4 LMBs that are living 10 ft from the SMB and Walleye. My kids don't care for fish and the wife is picky and we probably won't be pregnant again so those aren't huge deals but why am I now only allowed to eat a handful of smallies a year safely? So I'm sure some of you have researched this before so let me know what you know. The good news is I moved about an hour away and one small lake near here is rated among the cleanest and safest lakes to eat out of in NYS. It also adheres to the most lax regulations on all of their fish. All trout open all year, LMB open all season and catch and release with lures all year, etc no strict rules, max limits on all fish, and no boats with motors allowed so really looking forward to camping/fishing and eating what I catch up there. Quote
Hyrule Bass Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 perhaps the old recommendations were outdated, and a new fresh study was done which lead to the new recommendations... Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted February 28, 2014 Super User Posted February 28, 2014 Give it up - just go to McDonald's and get the Square Fish. A-Jay 2 Quote
Bob C Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 Give it up - just go to McDonald's and get the Square Fish. A-Jay I'll take my chance with something from a local lake before I'd eat a square fish from an unknown source. 3 Quote
Wbeadlescomb Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 I know around here it's normally from mercury. I've eaten my weight in bass several times over with no adverse effects other than occasionally glowing green in the dark 1 Quote
Super User WRB Posted February 28, 2014 Super User Posted February 28, 2014 Maybe Smallies and Walleyes are consider democrats, LMB conservatives in NY. Tom 1 Quote
Super User buzzed bait Posted February 28, 2014 Super User Posted February 28, 2014 essentially they already have mercury in their bodies, some with higher concentrates than others. certain algaes then produce higher levels of mercury, eaten by said fish, compounding the mercury problem.... each prey eaten by the predator multiplies the problem, the higher on the food chain, the more mercury..... another hotly contested source of the mercury is from coal fired power.... that's for another discussion, different forum..... Quote
fishinthedacks Posted February 28, 2014 Author Posted February 28, 2014 I know mercury is usually the cause. I just want to know why if anyone knew why Mercury levels were raised in these fish over the last year. Figured someone may have came across an article. At least trout and LMB aren't on that list yet. Guess only truly encon can answer why this was raised. They are supposed to do this study every year which to me says whatever the issue it has been in the last year. Also in NY only a select few grandfathers businesses can use coal. So if anything the mercury levels should be going down. Oh well I don't eat SMB in the winter so I guess if I eat a few extra in the warmer months it'll give my body time to ditch mercury in the winter haha. Quote
fishinthedacks Posted February 28, 2014 Author Posted February 28, 2014 Normally I catch and release but we do some fishing trips where we bring some protein. Jerkey/peanuts etc and spices. We eat what we catch for the week. So that's when I consume more fish and a couple of guys bring up .22's and if we're having bad luck catching fish we will substitute some small game. One year the weather was miserable the fish weren't biting on anything and the wild life stayed bedded down. Was kind of miserable so we ended up eating a ton of sunfish because we can always get those suckers to bite. Was only 13 at the time had a nice lmb on the line got it to the boat one of the guys went to net it and somehow dislodged the hook (why I now usually just snag them by hand). lol at that time though we would have eaten 10-15 SMB we were so hungry regardless of mercury levels. Hunger always preceeds the risk of mercury. Quote
Super User Jar11591 Posted February 28, 2014 Super User Posted February 28, 2014 I always ignore the mercury warnings kind of like the serving sizes of food. And I've never heard of anyone having any health issues due to mercury in game fish. But I mostly C&R except for bluegill/crappie/perch when I accidentally catch them. Quote
Brian Needham Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 Maybe Smallies and Walleyes are consider democrats, LMB conservatives in NY. Tom WRB made a funny! Quote
Super User WRB Posted February 28, 2014 Super User Posted February 28, 2014 Could have used age discrimination, older fatter fish accumulate more body organ contamination than young lean fish. Didn't want to upset the old or fat folks. PETA has been active with mercury contamination propaganda for several years and it's having an impact. If you are worried about mercury contaminated fish meat ( don't eat the livers) contact your local DNR and request the data they used to justify posting the warning. Tom 2 Quote
fishinthedacks Posted March 4, 2014 Author Posted March 4, 2014 I agree pets is a pita. They kill more animals than they help but this isn't for this forum. I deal with reptiles and pets is uninformed and over dramatic. Had no idea they had their dirty fingers in fish too smh Quote
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