BP oil spill and fish eating?

[Wolf]

I'm not much one for eating fish, though I've been a bit tempted to try some, but I haven't wanted to end up buying one of the big packs of fish only to try one little piece, dislike it, and waste all that fish.  But now I also have another concern against eating any fish, and that's because of this gigantic oil spill in the gulf which is most certainly affecting a LOT of the marine life, probably not only in the gulf, but on a much larger scale.  I already saw mention of one report where crabs were found lungs filled with some sort of "black substance" which could have been caused by the oil spill, even though the crabs normally remain on the bottom of the ocean floor.
http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/story/Disturbing-discovery-of-crabs-filled-with-black/u9ns1CCar026biq8QJdofw.cspx
And sea creatures a lot of time range far and wide, and could possibly be spreading the oil all over the world.  The was even another oil spill that happened I think somewhere near China, after this BP oil spill, though it was smaller and I only heard it mentioned briefly.

So I was just wondering if anyone here who eats fish has been affected by this oil spill, such as finding contaminated fish or getting sick from fish, and/or have at least cut back on or altogether stopped eating fish because of this?  Or if you didn't even think about it/didn't know about it, and now have something to be concerned over?  Even if you live near the gulf or not..

[TylerDurden]

These environmental pollution stories are way overblown, such as the ridiculous mercury-in-fish claims. In the case of oil-pollution, I remember 1 scientist pointing out that while the oil does do some damage to species re killing some off, the critters at the bottom of the food-chain eagerly digest the oils quite naturally, so that the end-result is that the various fish/shellfish populations tend to explode in numbers some time after such a spill.

[Wolf]

Well I wasn't as much wanting to know about the environmental effects with all the animals being killed, but rather the effects of human consumption of oil-tainted fish.  I know nature will eventually, hopefully fully, recover from this just as it recovers from every natural disaster that happens(even though this isn't quite natural), but I just wanted to know the effect on those who are still eating raw fish or those who stopped eating raw fish. (even though cooking probably doesn't make a difference)

[TylerDurden]

Any seriously oil-polluted creatures would not be allowed to end up as human food so this is not relevant.

[sabertooth]

The main effect of the spill has been on my pocket book$$$
I bought a dozen oysters today 11 dollars, before the spill they were 8 dollars.
The fish monger said that most the oyster beds in the gulf are closed so they have to get northern ones.
Fish prices are up as well and some fish are impossible to get.
Quality Beef prices are raising as a side effect, people seem to be eatting more beef because of the seafood scare causing demand to go up$$$
The beef I get comes in a 40 pound case(Kentucky black Angus)
Best stuff ever, beautifully marbled creamy texture, I told the butcher its worth every penny of what I pay for it, 3$ per pound
{it still bums me out about the price raise)

[raw-al]

Excellent question Wolf

These environmental pollution stories are way overblown, such as the ridiculous mercury-in-fish claims.

AV claims that the mercury in fish is different than say that from a thermometer. He says it is changed in form by the fish and is assimilable harmlessly by us. This would explain what you are saying Tyler about the oil being consumed by the lower life forms in the food chain.

In Ayurveda there was a time in history (15th, 16th century) when the sages figured out how to make certain heavy metals and minerals (like lead, mercury, arsenic etc.) assimilable by humans and thus available to be used as medicines. These medicines are used today as very strong and effective medicines taken under clinical conditions in hospitals in India by properly trained physicians.

Modern science hasn't yet caught up to this and indeed wallows around in theories about the safe levels or RDA of such things in water as lead. The #s used as legal limits in water supplies varies enormously in municipalities and that contrasts enormously with the WHO's RDA . And to top it off no science is used to back up the #s, just a eeny meeny miney moe catch a # by the toe.

Copper can be toxic and is especially so when heated and yet guess what we all use for water piping. And it is fused with lead based solder..... Hmmmm

[TylerDurden]

AV is wrong re stating that the mercury in fish is bound up by raw food molecules. It's simply that the amounts of mercury in fish are so tiny that they have no effect. Here's a good website re this issue:-

http://fishscam.com/mercuryMyths.cfm

[raw-al]

AV is wrong re stating that the mercury in fish is bound up by raw food molecules. It's simply that the amounts of mercury in fish are so tiny that they have no effect. Here's a good website re this issue:-

http://fishscam.com/mercuryMyths.cfm

Hmmm can't argue that point at all. I know my BS meter peaks out a bit at sites with names like "scam" attached or quackwatch etc. or when people make absolute statements.

In the place where I was living for 20 some years there was a huge hydroelectric power plant. This involved a huge man made reservoir. I bumped into an old friend one day in town and he said he was doing a contract (he is a marine biologist) to measure the levels of heavy metals in the fish. Apparently in reservoirs where a lot of trees are drowned, heavy metals leach out of the area and make their way into the fish with the largest fish being the ones you have to be careful of. He told me that the livers of the fish were just at the max limit before they have to do something. Memory is a bit weak of the specifics but I thought he said there would be at the least an advisory not to eat the fishes liver or maybe not to eat the fish, can't remember. So there is regulatory activity involved in mercury etc. Now whether this regulatory activity is based on truth or not I cannot say. We had the mercury filling removed from our teeth and notice a difference.

[TylerDurden]

There are genuine cases where mercury-poisoning has occurred such as at Minamata Bay but these invariably involve far higher levels of mercury than the hopelessly inaccurate government guidelines.

Anyway, the most rigorous study on the subject, the Seychelles study showed that even children raised on diets 10 times higher in seafood than American children do not develop any problems associated with mercury-intake.