Eating your caught fish

[macaw]

Hey everyone! I'm looking to learn to fish this year and I was wondering how you know the fish is safe to eat. I know there is the "Guide to Eating Ontario Fish", but what about areas that don't have recommendations? What do you guys do?

Thanks!

[hunter06]

Eat my fish and forget the guidelines

[hunter06]

All caught from small lakes, by the time you’ll eat enough to hurt yourself you’ll be sick of fish

[fishfood]

Keep the the medium size and let the bigger ones go.

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[finsfurfeathers]

Short of referencing the guide there is nothing conclusive.
Some considerations that can be made is 1. younger fish over older fish.
2. prey fish over predator fish
3. Occasional meals over every meal
4. fillets with as much of the brown fat removed over whole baked fish
Or just close your eyes and enjoy a meal of fresh caught fish

[Fenelon]

Also avoid species that are notoriously high for contaminants. Usually species that are high fat, long-lived (longer period for bioaccumulation) , and primarily eat fish ( piscivorous ) as their forage. Fish like lake trout, salmon, burbot, channel catfish will consistently rank much higher for contaminants. In many water bodies these species will not be safe to eat, period, especially if they are larger fish eg. something like a 16 pound channel cat from below the Dunnville dam would be basically hazardous waste! . Some regions of the province will be high for contaminants due mainly to geological features eg. the clay belt region in New Liskeard to Cochrane area. Clay is a chelating agent for methyl mercury (increases availability and uptake in the foodchain). Many lakes in this area will tend to have "no consumption" levels of contaminants (mainly methyl mercury if it goes about .5ppm if I remember correctly) unless you are sticking to very small fish.. Check the guidelines before you book a $4000 fly-in fishing trip in God's Country if you plan to be eating what you catch. Many remote northern waterbodies (especially if they are impounded systems) will have high to very high mercury levels.
I always check the consumption guide to be safe. I personally avoid anything from the great lakes. Be aware of the Lake Superior zero consumption rules for rainbow smelt, and assume it's the same for the remaining great lakes since the MOEE doesn't test these other lakes for the class of contaminants that have caused the Superior guidelines

[hunter06]

Ya, to clarify my fish I eat are all caught from small lakes in central Ontario, we don’t have salmon or steal head which can be high in mercury. The most common fish we eat are 15-16 inch walleye, 20 inch pike, 2-3 pound bass, 10-12 inch brook trout, and lot’s of jumbo perch and bluegills. I believe the guidelines would say for most of these species to eat no more than two meals a week. We generally eat fish about once to twice a week in the summer and have had no issues.

[trimmer21]

Hey everyone! I'm looking to learn to fish this year and I was wondering how you know the fish is safe to eat. I know there is the "Guide to Eating Ontario Fish", but what about areas that don't have recommendations? What do you guys do?

Thanks!

Welcome aboard. If you think about mercury content,just push the fish headfirst into a snowbank. When the mercury drops,cut the head off. End of problem. Bon appetite!

[Ata83]

Fillet the fish, and remove fats, and dont feed to fast growing infants and pregnant women.
ull be fine with 1 feeding a week.
been eating lake ontario salmon for a long time. havent grown 4th hand, just the regular 3 hands ... lol

We simply dont know if its better or worse than farmed fish from grocery store.
been reading about micro plastic making its way to fish muscle also, something thats not monitored or measured even. so im not sure if a bit of mercury is our biggest worry at this point.

[greatwhite]

Same here

Eat my fish and forget the guidelines