Spring Surf Club Challenge Results

[numbskull]

It is stupid to kill a large (say #25 and over) to eat unless you plan to only eat one meal from it and give away the rest.

It is stupid for a lot of reasons that many people do not care about but there is ONE reason that even the most selfish of us should care about..

Toxin levels in older (i.e., large) fish are often significantly higher than in younger fish.......and can be VERY high in 10-20% of the larger fish in that subset (just go look at the sample data on which the recommendations are made....I have). Yeah I know you want to blow this off but before doing so consider what it means. If you eat multiple meals from one of those larger fish that is in the high toxin range you get multiple repeated exposures to the high toxin level. Maybe you're OK with that but you are a flat out idiot if you assume your wife and children should also be OK with that and you are an even bigger idiot for not protecting them from it.

The recommended levels of striped bass consumption are based on average, not peak toxin levels. This works to protect you ONLY if you buy fish in a restaurant or a fish market since over the course of the season you get exposed to fish with both high and low toxin levels which average out (no one gets poisoned by eating a single meal from any striped bass). It DOES NOT WORK if you catch and keep your own LARGE fish then eat multiple meals from that fish and that certainly can expose you to toxin levels far above what the guidelines assume. Doing so, therefore, is just flat out stupid and a disservice to those who love and trust you (particularly if they are growing children).

It is what it is. Better to kill and eat multiple fish closer to 28" than a single big fish......unless, as stated above, you plan to only make a single meal from the big fish.

And one further note. Do not buy into the bullsht posted on line about toxin levels all being in the organs, skin, or red meat of a fish (the "they grind the whole thing up to test it" fallacy....fishery biologists might do this but Health Departments do not). As an MD, I spoke directly with the State Health Dept several years ago and they where very clear that their testing was done only on samples from fillets.

[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by numbskull

It is stupid to kill a large (say #25 and over) to eat unless you plan to only eat one meal from it and give away the rest.

It is stupid for a lot of reasons that many people do not care about but there is ONE reason that even the most selfish of us should care about..

Toxin levels in older (i.e., large) fish are often significantly higher than in younger fish.......and can be VERY high in 10-20% of the larger fish in that subset (just go look at the sample data on which the recommendations are made....I have). Yeah I know you want to blow this off but before doing so consider what it means. If you eat multiple meals from one of those larger fish that is in the high toxin range you get multiple repeated exposures to the high toxin level. Maybe you're OK with that but you are a flat out idiot if you assume your wife and children should also be OK with that and you are an even bigger idiot for not protecting them from it.

The recommended levels of striped bass consumption are based on average, not peak toxin levels. This works to protect you ONLY if you buy fish in a restaurant or a fish market since over the course of the season you get exposed to fish with both high and low toxin levels which average out (no one gets poisoned by eating a single meal from any striped bass). It DOES NOT WORK if you catch and keep your own LARGE fish then eat multiple meals from that fish and that certainly can expose you to toxin levels far above what the guidelines assume. Doing so, therefore, is just flat out stupid and a disservice to those who love and trust you (particularly if they are growing children).

It is what it is. Better to kill and eat multiple fish closer to 28" than a single big fish......unless, as stated above, you plan to only make a single meal from the big fish.

And one further note. Do not buy into the bullsht posted on line about toxin levels all being in the organs, skin, or red meat of a fish (the "they grind the whole thing up to test it" fallacy....fishery biologists might do this but Health Departments do not). As an MD, I spoke directly with the State Health Dept several years ago and they where very clear that their testing was done only on samples from fillets.

George, I can only speak for myself but between chips, ice cream,Monsanto veggies,chicken and beef on roids,I have to wonder if a meal from a 28# bass will hold a candle when it comes to ingesting something "unhealthy ". Most restaurants are looking for the big ones because of superior yield. I honestly have no idea what could be on the label for most supermarket products but I have raised three kids on fruit roll ups(they have no fruit,just coloring and crap)! That said, I am a gardening fanatic and go to great means to grow organically.
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[piemma]

Breaking tides at the Ditch this week. I'm betting it's an absolute zoo.

[bloocrab]

Originally Posted by piemma

Breaking tides at the Ditch this week. I'm betting it's an absolute zoo.

Absolutely!!! My buddy just shot me text, some guy caught a keeper at pole # 72.....it was 29 1/2 inches.......he killed it.