Eating Lake Ontario Fish

[fishing89]

For over 15 years I have been hearing that eating fish from lake ontario is nasty, bad for you and the fish are full of mercury and pollution form the nuclear plant. Both me and my dad had thought this to be BS for the most part...but I did see where those comments are coming from. lake Ontario is far from a "pristine" lake but I still don't think it's THAT bad. Over the recent years I began to question the validity of "Ontario fish are dirty"...and have stumbled upon the Guide to Eating Sports Fish in Onatrio Report. Most of you may already know of this report, which is published very 2 years. After looking at the specific creeks and rivers I frequent, I can now saw that, yes,I will be eating some of the smaller fish...as the recommended maximum servings per month are in the 8-4 range....depending on the size.

http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/environment/en/resources/collection/guide_to_eating_ontario_sport_fish/STDPROD_075994.html#2

Thoughts?

 

[PDG]

I would't eat them....if they put a limit on how much you can eat does that mean that a small amount of toxins are ok? I can't bring myself to eat them in any amount....2 cents

 

[fishing89]

The highest limit of 8 servings per month is only there because that is the recommnded number of FISH servings as set out by Health Canada, therefore, even if the fish is 100% clean (which no fish on the planet are) the max rating it would get is 8 servings.

The Salmon they sell at the store is far worse than anything caught in our great lakes as it is farm raised, hormone salmon. The wild caught is the only one I buy, and even that given its size is probably full of "toxins"

having said that, sure there are places more polluted than others, however nothing significant in Ontrario that I can across in this report.

Interesting fact: All of the fish at Grenadier Pond were given the MAXIMUM recommended servings per month rating - 8 per month...as opposed to the fish in the Saugeen river....

 

[PDG]

The highest limit of 8 servings per month is only there because that is the recommnded number of FISH servings as set out by Health Canada, therefore, even if the fish is 100% clean (which no fish on the planet are) the max rating it would get is 8 servings.

The Salmon they sell at the store is far worse than anything caught in our great lakes as it is farm raised, hormone salmon. The wild caught is the only one I buy, and even that given its size is probably full of "toxins"

having said that, sure there are places more polluted than others, however nothing significant in Ontrario that I can across in this report.

Interesting fact: All of the fish at Grenadier Pond were given the MAXIMUM recommended servings per month rating - 8 per month...as opposed to the fish in the Saugeen river....

that is interesting about Grenadier Pond and the Saugeen...maybe it's a mental thing for me that i can't get past but I grew up in Toronto and fished there since I was 5 or 6 and I've come across to many disgusting things in the rivers, so I don't think that i could ever eat those fish

 

[Brian]

Honestly I will trust the guide over what others say. The guide is actually backed up by some research and testing...
Unless maybe one of the marine biologist's who tested the lakes comes forward and prove otherwise...

 

[PDG]

Honestly I will trust the guide over what others say. The guide is actually backed up by some research and testing...
Unless maybe one of the marine biologist's who tested the lakes comes forward and prove otherwise...

do you eat lake O fish?

 

[PDG]

I spoke to a guy on a west trib, he told me that he had eaten a chinook and a rainbow both from lake O and said they were both tasteless

 

[Rain-Bow]

It's worth noting that Lake Ontario is way more contaminated than the other great lakes. When I compare the guidelines for rainbow trout from lake o and the rainbow trout from Georgian bay, there seems to be a major difference. It might have improved a bit in recent years, but I wouldn't eat the fish from it.

 

[fishing89]

I can definitely understand the psychological factor about not eating lake Ontario fish. It's a lake located on the shores of a huge metropolitan city that pollutes much more than it should. However, the report (I really recommend everyone read the intro), is very thorough and tests fish in accordance with not only Canadian health food standards but also American for allowed toxins. They test for a decent variety of the most common and existing toxins every two years in over 150,000 fish samples across all bodies of water.the report even tells you how to fillet a fish in order to reduce the amount of potential toxic, as in fish like salmon and trout, the toxins are mostly stores in the fatty deposits around the belly, spine and ribs

 

[redneckchromer]

i would never ever eat a lake o fish!!! ive caught my fair share of fish from both the north and lake o tribs and have caught a quite a few lake o trout with defects ( tumors/growths, disfigured faces/mouths,some nasty ass white sores). on the other hand i have never ever seen a fish pulled out of northern water with any type of deformity. also, when the gov says DONT FEED THIS ISH TO YO KIDS AND BABY MAMA then maybe theres something wrong with the meat? lol just my $0.02

 

[redneckchromer]

eating a bow wont kill ya, but i would advise everyone to never eat a lake o brown or laker, especially west browns, they live in some pretty nasty water in the summer/spring months. thank stelco lol

 

[BowSlayer]

I've tried lake o bows from an east trib a couple times, sure it wasn't a delicacy, but it was edible, northern g-bay fish are MUCH better! if i keep a lake o tribs bow, its usually for roe, so i smoke the meat on the smoker, it tursn out ok, but its hard to ruin a smoked fish, northern bows are better, my advice: go ice fishing and get your self some whities or lakers! but thats just my opinion, lol. :mrgreen:

 

[redneckchromer]

winter=fish killing season :evil:

 

[PDG]

winter=fish killing season :evil:

Yup

 

[W_boughner]

A lot of the fish you get from the super market come from the Great Lakes including Lake Ontario (perch walleye whitefish herring and rainbow ) so if you buy fish it could be from Lake Ontario and as far as taste thay taste the same to me but I haven't cooked one from each to eat at the same meal to compare

 

[fishing89]

I would rather eat a Huron rainbow, however it's so far and if I don't catch it's a 3.5 hour drive for nothing lol

 

[Klik]

this is from an east river http://files.ontariogovernment.ca/moe_mapping/mapping/SportFish/EN/LAKE43527910.html

correct me if i am wrong, but i think a serving was 230 grams. that is few grams over half a pound. if you catch a 2lb fish it will put it in 20"+ category at one serving per month, meaning most the fish needs to be thrown into the garbage. only fish are some what safer to eat are16 inchers and smaller. that is less than a pound roughly. point is just release them and enjoy the sports fishery. also cancers take 10-15 years to develop. takes time.

 

[fishing89]

ooo, those are some pretty nasty numbers from the Rouge

 

[BowSlayer]

A lot of the fish you get from the super market come from the Great Lakes including Lake Ontario (perch walleye whitefish herring and rainbow ) so if you buy fish it could be from Lake Ontario and as far as taste thay taste the same to me but I haven't cooked one from each to eat at the same meal to compare

and THAT is why i don't buy fish from stores and catch my own!!

 

[instapump416]

What species of fish would you eat from lake ontario?