Safe to eat ?

Dan

Member
Hey, I wanted to start a discussion about freshwater catches and whether or not the lake they came from makes them safe or unsafe to eat.
I have always thought that lakes next to a highway were not entirely safe to eat fish from...but I have nothing to back this up...
I have also heard that certain lakes are not safe for 1 reason or another but it is just hearsay. Again, nothing to back this up.

Can anyone add to this by posting LINKS to articles that may set the record straight as to whether or not any of our local lakes are safe or unsafe to eat your catches from ?

Again, please only post if you have something to back it up - Don't post: "I wouldn't eat from there, it looks dirty" - LINK PLEASE ! :)
 
Are you serious or Trolling?

Good place for you to start would be the Ministry of Environment.

Don't eat fish from a lake next to a highway... strangest thing I've heard in a while.
 
I've eaten trout from Elk lake for over 30 years. My hair's fallen out a bit, I have fivehead not forehead. Other than that there's been no adverse affects. ;)
 
I've eaten trout from Elk lake for over 30 years. My hair's fallen out a bit, I have fivehead not forehead. Other than that there's been no adverse affects. ;)

Well that explains a few things. :D
 
You will only believe information with LINKS? It's the internet...


 
Someone told me recently that you can't eat fish out of Prospect Lake, was wondering if that was true. Seems there is a lot of BS being passed around, I don't know, hence the thread :D
Thought you all would know or have some knowledge.
Just looking for info, sarcasm I have enough of already and it's only funny when I do it :eek:
 
Here's my link: http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/showthread.php?21287-Safe-to-eat
Please refer to the poster falcon1 he is always right.

I wouldn't eat a fish from a dirty lake for that reason: it's dirty! I don't eat trout from elk lake because they taste like garbage. I would not eat any fish from Lookout lake because the water looks like tea and you cannot see more than 2 feet down because of the murk. When in doubt, catch and release. Your health is more valuable than a fish.
 
Here's my link: http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/showthread.php?21287-Safe-to-eat
Please refer to the poster falcon1 he is always right.

I wouldn't eat a fish from a dirty lake for that reason: it's dirty! I don't eat trout from elk lake because they taste like garbage. I would not eat any fish from Lookout lake because the water looks like tea and you cannot see more than 2 feet down because of the murk. When in doubt, catch and release. Your health is more valuable than a fish.

You win the thread and possibly most of, if not all, the internetz, congrats ! :cool:
 
Here's my link: http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/showthread.php?21287-Safe-to-eat
Please refer to the poster falcon1 he is always right.

I wouldn't eat a fish from a dirty lake for that reason: it's dirty! I don't eat trout from elk lake because they taste like garbage. I would not eat any fish from Lookout lake because the water looks like tea and you cannot see more than 2 feet down because of the murk. When in doubt, catch and release. Your health is more valuable than a fish.

Very funny falcon1 - a recursive link! Ha Ha.

However, you sense of humour is much better than your science. Please define "dirty". You cannot tell if a lake is polluted or contaminated from looking at it. You have to do a chemical analysis, especially if you are looking for heavy metals.

The stuff that Cobradriver and others are hearing is all rubbish. If there was a problem with Prospect Lake fish there would be notices about it. I hear things about eating fish from Thetis Lake too. People are so gullible they will believe anything, but a moments thought will tell you since the fish are all stocked fish anyway, and they are quite healthy feisty fish there cannot be anything wrong.

Cobradriver is right - post your scientific link to back up your claim about health risks or stop repeating silly "old wives tales".
 
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Very funny falcon1 - a recursive link! Ha Ha.

However, you sense of humour is much better than your science. Please define "dirty". You cannot tell if a lake is polluted or contaminated from looking at it. You have to do a chemical analysis, especially if you are looking for heavy metals.

The stuff that Cobradriver and others are hearing is all rubbish. If there was a problem with Prospect Lake fish there would be notices about it. I hear things about eating fish from Thetis Lake too. People are so gullible they will believe anything, but a moments thought will tell you since the fish are all stocked fish anyway, and they are quite healthy feisty fish there cannot be anything wrong.

Cobradriver is right - post your scientific link to back up your claim about health risks or stop repeating silly "old wives tales".
So then you disagree with the fact that it is better safe than sorry? I'm sorry but I don;t see the point in risking cancer or another disease by eating a fish out of water that may be unsanitary. Go ahead if you want to, but I hope what cobra and others take away from my post is that if you are unsure, don't risk it.
 
So then you disagree with the fact that it is better safe than sorry? I'm sorry but I don;t see the point in risking cancer or another disease by eating a fish out of water that may be unsanitary. Go ahead if you want to, but I hope what cobra and others take away from my post is that if you are unsure, don't risk it.

I don't understand you. You are not defining your science or level of risk. Making vague statements about "risking cancer or another disease" is just scare mongering. I can make unsubstantiated statements about safety of fish from any lake on VI or in the whole of BC for that matter and you are going to believe me because you want to be "safe"??! If you really understood anything about environmental contaminants and level of risk, there would be a lot of other foods you would not eat, including tinned tuna!!
BTW "Unsanitary" is a term applied to conditions caused by some form of sewage pollution, such as E.coli. Where is your evidence for this and what the hell has that to do with cancer causing contaminants?
Finally, why has Kildonan not died if he has eaten fish from Elk Lake for 30 years (see post above)?

The answer is because there is no measurable risk and all these wild tales are spread by ignorance and superstition and are not derived from any reliable, quantifiable data.
 
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No problem :) Whats your verdict?

If I have to hike for an hour or more, anything goes, otherwise, very very limited.
Seems the info I'm after just isn't out there, there is no yes or no.
I read here Prospect was poisoned, then heard it from someone else, then was told it was rubbish. Thought I should ask here.
Too much info being passed around, some true, some not, some close...choose your battles I guess.


If there was a problem with Prospect Lake fish there would be notices about it.

That's what I thought too !
 
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If I have to hike for an hour or more, anything goes, otherwise, very very limited.
Seems the info I'm after just isn't out there, there is no yes or no.
I read here Prospect was poisoned, then heard it from someone else, then was told it was rubbish. Thought I should ask here.
Too much info being passed around, some true, some not, some close...choose your battles I guess.

Cobradriver,

If Prospect lake was poisoned don't you think there would be notices about it? Why would it be stocked with trout every year? I mean come on!!

The people that are telling you this stuff are just ignorant and probably believe cell phones cause brain cancer and left handed people are cursed by the devil!!
 
Pretty sure the trout like to swim around right at the top and gulp the oil. You probably breath more pollutants in getting stuck behind a diesel truck for 1 minute or the whiff of gas everytime you fill up your car. How about the pesticides your veggies are sprayed with or the fertilizer it took to grow them or gas used to gas them to ripen or not ripen.

Ive fished lakes it takes 4 hour by logging road and 2 hr by dirtbike to get to and and best tasting trout I ever caught was in elk lake last year.
 
I don't understand you. You are not defining your science or level of risk. Making vague statements about "risking cancer or another disease" is just scare mongering. I can make unsubstantiated statements about safety of fish from any lake on VI or in the whole of BC for that matter and you are going to believe me because you want to be "safe"??! If you really understood anything about environmental contaminants and level of risk, there would be a lot of other foods you would not eat, including tinned tuna!!
BTW "Unsanitary" is a term applied to conditions caused by some form of sewage pollution, such as E.coli. Where is your evidence for this and what the hell has that to do with cancer causing contaminants?
Finally, why has Kildonan not died if he has eaten fish from Elk Lake for 30 years (see post above)?

The answer is because there is no measurable risk and all these wild tales are spread by ignorance and superstition and are not derived from any reliable, quantifiable data.
Relax. I am not claiming to be an expert, I am just expressing my opinions. If people throw junk in a lake, then the chemicals from the plastic (I hope you are not going to tell me plastic has no chemicals) leech into the water. Also, in a small body of water, pollutants collect easier than in salt water simply because of the size involved.

I must also point out that unsanitary does not mean "sewage". If a restaurant used unwashed or dirty plates, that would be considered unsanitary. And with level of risk, does it matter? If there is an unnessesary risk, why take it when there are alternatives. I suspect Kildonan has not died for the same reason you have not died because you eat tuna. Bad for you does not mean will kill you. Mercury and other heavy metals (such as the lead found in fishing weights) collect in your brain tissue. You cannot burn them off, you cannot take drugs to get rid of them. Large ammounts of mercury or lead in your brain will not cause immediate problems, but may lead to cancer later in life. I'll put it this way.
Lead fishing weight (lost tackle) sitting in lake-breaks down slowly-molecules collect on small life forms (algae etc)-eaten by increasingly larger species-eaten by trout-trout eaten by human and hey presto. Lead in your system. Times that by hundreds of lost weights and however many other chemicals are in that trout... Is that scientific enough, or do I need to use words like bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Both terms are relevant.

I didn't post of this thread to argue with you, I posted to offer my point of view to someone who wanted information.
 
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