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Mmmm -good!

1 by goosekiller
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These white bass from Northern Wisconsin averaged just over one pound. Great fun on light tackle and excellent eating. The "leftovers" are already in the garden near where the maters get planted next week.
"Endeavor to persevere."

Re: Mmmm -good!

6 by AdAstra
Can you clear up one thing for me? If it were solely up to me, I'd be eating fish pretty much 90% of all my meals, despite the lack of fresh seafood here in IN. However, looking at many nutrition and health websites, including gov and med sites, if I did that I'd apparently die of mercury poisoning in a few weeks. So what's the real story, is it just particular fish that does this, or is it generally all fish, or is the location of the catch that matters? I gather that "light" fish is better in terms of mercury content, but what's "better" mean?

Makes me think of the sea-farming, sea-faring cultures in the Mediterranean, Polynesia, etc, that get most of their sustenance from fish - I don't think they go crazy en masse, or have drastically shorter lifespans, in fact the opposite seems true...
I am Tobermory's cat

Re: Mmmm -good!

7 by Porkroast
Ad,

Those cultures didn't burn coal for power generation, releasing massive amounts of mercury into the water supply where it gets picked up by fish & transferred to our bodies by eating it!


That being said, catfish (which are in abundance in IN, and can be grown on farms sustainably) are proven to be one of the healthier species, their bodies resist heavy metals & do not transfer mercury nearly as much as other species.

So heat up a cast iron skillet, load it up with plenty of pepper & paprika & cajun-style some catfish filets!!!

Re: Mmmm -good!

9 by AdAstra
So farmed fish should be safer, provided the waters are isolated from larger waterways and away from industrial contamination? It's also said that mercury occurs naturally and is consumed by fish, but industrial pollution mercury contributes more to this contamination?

There are many fish farms around here, just never thought of them as safer alternatives till now.
I am Tobermory's cat

Re: Mmmm -good!

10 by Porkroast
AdAstra wrote:So farmed fish should be safer, provided the waters are isolated from larger waterways and away from industrial contamination? It's also said that mercury occurs naturally and is consumed by fish, but industrial pollution mercury contributes more to this contamination?

Nope, but certain species do not pick up heavy metals as easy as others.

From memory... Swordfish = bad, Catfish = good, Sardines = really really good.

Here is a pretty good chart I just found:
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/prod ... 115644.htm

Most of the mercury in our environment today was not there 100's of years ago. Most of it exists now due to coal-fired power plants. ( and the lack of scrubbers mandated by liberal big government politicians).

Re: Mmmm -good!

11 by mark
AdAstra wrote:So farmed fish should be safer, provided the waters are isolated from larger waterways and away from industrial contamination? It's also said that mercury occurs naturally and is consumed by fish, but industrial pollution mercury contributes more to this contamination?

There are many fish farms around here, just never thought of them as safer alternatives till now.

Farmed catfish are essentially mercury free.

Mercury, like most heavy metals, bioaccumulates (you don't get rid of it very quickly so the amount in your body continues to build over time as you continue to eat it - like most heavy metals). A little shrimp can only eat so much crap in his life. He accumulates some portion of mercury in his short life. Say 1 unit. But something that eats shrimp might have to eat thousands in a lifetime. And he retains the vast majority of that mercury. So, lets say in the life of the next biggest fish that he eats 2,000 shrimp. So he has 2,000 units of mercury. But he has also been eating tons of other little fish and critters and winds up with a but ton more mercury. Carry that out to a top predator like a tuna and you have some serious concentrations of mercury. So that as you move us the food chain, the concentration (mercury/unit flesh) goes up. Which means that if you want to minimize mercury, you minimize top predators (tuna, billfish, sharks, etc) and stick with things much lower on the food chain.

Catfish and tilapia are great because you can throw some barely clean water in a big old tub, dump a bunch of fish in there and they grow fast and hardy with some fish chow. In Florida, you can also go with mullet, smoked or deep fried. MMmmm... mullet. Hey Love&a45..... isn't the mullet toss sometime soon?


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Edited for clarity
"The waves which dash on the shore are, one by one, broken; but yet the ocean conquers nevertheless."
- Lord Byron

Re: Mmmm -good!

12 by Porkroast
mark wrote: Farmed catfish are essentially mercury free.

Mercury, like most heavy metals, bioaccumulates (you don't get rid of it very quickly so the amount in your body continues to build over time as you continue to eat it - like most heavy metals). A little shrimp can only eat so much crap in his life. He accumulates some portion of mercury in his short life. Say 1 unit. But something that eats shrimp might have to eat thousands in a lifetime. And he retains the vast majority of that mercury. So, lets say in the life of the next biggest fish that he eats 2,000 shrimp. So he has 2,000 units of mercury. But he has also been eating tons of other little fish and critters and winds up with a but ton more mercury. Carry that out to a top predator like a tuna and you have some serious concentrations of mercury. So that as you move us the food chain, the concentration (mercury/unit flesh) goes up. Which means that if you want to minimize mercury, you minimize top predators (tuna, billfish, sharks, etc) and stick with things much lower on the food chain.
That is an awesome explanation! Thanks. We go to this little greasy spoon beer joint every friday @ work that has an AWESOME catfish fry. Today some of my co-workers were complaining about going there every week because of the mercury issue. I tried to explain to them how catfish are one of the species that is safe to eat, but I really had no idea *why* they were better. I'll remember this for next week's discussion on the issue :)

Re: Mmmm -good!

15 by MetalSlugIV
I'd also like to add that Tilapia and Catfish have a high feed to mass ratio. Meaning they can gain a pound of wieght to little over a pound of food. This makes them economical to raise as well as taking less energy to grow. More food = more energy put into making, processing, hauling food etc.

Here is a good episode of Good Eats on how to eat sustainable.


"Let's be honest the only people who read Ayn Rand are 16 year olds and assholes"

Re: Mmmm -good!

16 by mark
MetalSlugIV wrote:I'd also like to add that Tilapia and Catfish have a high feed to mass ratio. Meaning they can gain a pound of wieght to little over a pound of food. This makes them economical to raise as well as taking less energy to grow. More food = more energy put into making, processing, hauling food etc.

Here is a good episode of Good Eats on how to eat sustainable.

Yup, catfish and tilapia are great lower impact protein sources. Its too bad that I have never had tilapia that I thought tasted like much of anything. Its about the most blah fish ever. I don't even like the texture of it. Luckily, I like catfish :)
"The waves which dash on the shore are, one by one, broken; but yet the ocean conquers nevertheless."
- Lord Byron

Re: Mmmm -good!

17 by Ultravox
mark wrote:Yup, catfish and tilapia are great lower impact protein sources. Its too bad that I have never had tilapia that I thought tasted like much of anything. Its about the most blah fish ever. I don't even like the texture of it. Luckily, I like catfish :)
Tilapia is pretty bland, but I have never had catfish that didn't taste like mud to me. :closedeyes:
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Re: Mmmm -good!

18 by MetalSlugIV
Ultravox wrote:
mark wrote:Yup, catfish and tilapia are great lower impact protein sources. Its too bad that I have never had tilapia that I thought tasted like much of anything. Its about the most blah fish ever. I don't even like the texture of it. Luckily, I like catfish :)
Tilapia is pretty bland, but I have never had catfish that didn't taste like mud to me. :closedeyes:
DuckyChan has pretty much the same opinion. She hates all fish. This sucks because I love seafood. I hate being in the landlocked Midwest. Seafood is expensive here.
"Let's be honest the only people who read Ayn Rand are 16 year olds and assholes"

Mmmm -good!

19 by Paladin
I like the tortilla encrusted tilapia and Costco has a fantastic breaded.

A pizza pizzaz is the best thing to cook them on.
An intellectual is someone that can change their mind after being given enough evidence.

“ I nearly murdered somebody, and it made me realise that you can't face violence with violence. It doesn't work. ”

—Joe Strummer

Re: Mmmm -good!

20 by Mason
MetalSlugIV wrote:
Ultravox wrote:
mark wrote:Yup, catfish and tilapia are great lower impact protein sources. Its too bad that I have never had tilapia that I thought tasted like much of anything. Its about the most blah fish ever. I don't even like the texture of it. Luckily, I like catfish :)
Tilapia is pretty bland, but I have never had catfish that didn't taste like mud to me. :closedeyes:
DuckyChan has pretty much the same opinion. She hates all fish. This sucks because I love seafood. I hate being in the landlocked Midwest. Seafood is expensive here.
You're gonna like VA. :)
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese

Re: Mmmm -good!

24 by goosekiller
Ah, a rainy day in Chicagoland. I need a break if only to do billing and paperwork for the state.

We do not eat much in the way of processed foods around here - unless i do the processing. I spend alot of time exposing myself to pesticides, so my garden is organic and we eat a great deal wild meat.
I have not started making beer yet, unfortunately.

I would rather eat tofu than tilapia. They taste about the same.

You cats eating imported seafood might want to do a little research on the food safety export policies of China and Viet Nam.
"Endeavor to persevere."
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