I Wasn't Hallucinating About Opaleye: Article about DDT Levels

[Natural Lefty]

Yesterday, I decided to check pollution levels in Opaleye in response to JPLee's post in which he related that a sportfishing boat captain said they had extremely high levels of mercury. I basically said the captain was hallucinating, and that Opaleye are low on the food chain, so they have very low levels of pollution.

I decided to back up my words with evidence. Well, here it is. The following article talks about DDT levels in the Santa Monica Bay, Palos Verde and Long Beach area. The article says that DDT levels have gradually been dropping, but are still very high. White Croakers, due to their inability to rid DDT from their bodies, have extremely high DDT levels. Other fish with high DDT levels include high end resident predators such as various bass species and rockfish species. On page 3, the article mentions that the lowest levels of DDT were found in Opaleye, :Smile:Jacksmelt, and Pacific Mackerel. Jacksmelt and Pacific Mackerel are not exactly on most people's list of yummy fish, but Opaleye are very good to eat.

Although the article concentrates on discussing DDT levels, PCB and mercury levels follow a similar pattern. They always concentrate in top predators the most. Apparently, PCBs and mercury are not much of a problem in Socal though.

Here is the link to the LA Times article. It has lots of good information about DDT and which species have higher and lower levels of DDT.

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/28/local/me-fish28

[DEADROOTS]

my Korean Friend love to eat Opaleye sashimi. They say it's the best.

[Puropuro]

This is a very helpful post, thanks.
I also checked out some of the other links in that article and found some more great info.

You guys may already know this one, but it's new to me:
http://www.oehha.org/fish/so_cal/socalpddp.html

[Natural Lefty]

Deadroots, that is interesting. I actually like to eat sashimi or ceviche from fish I have caught sometimes, but have not tried Opaleye that way. I usually use freshwater panfish such as Bluegill, Redear or Crappie for sashimi or ceviche. I remember a few years ago when I caught a large Opaleye, filleted it, coated it with corn meal and sauteed it, it was super-yummy. My wife usually likes to scale and gut them, then lightly fry them, which I also find good. I would like to eat Opaleye sashimi sometime, though, like your friends. Anyway, they seem safe to eat. I have never seen any parasites in them, either.

Puropuro, thanks for the information. I don't have time to look right now (lunchtime), but I will try to look later. Clearly, much of this information is bad news for people who like to eat fish of the more polluted species in the region from Santa Monica in the north to Long Beach in the south. The good news is that outside of that range, there is far less pollution, and also, some species such as Opaleye are safe to eat. It's bizarre that some people single out Opaleye as unsafe to eat. I guess it shows the power of word of mouth from one ignorant person to another. That is why, as someone trained in scientific research techniques, I always try to back up my statements with evidence.

By the way, all of this DDT was dumped by one company, Monsanto, many years ago. They manufactured DDT at the time, which makes it really ironic that they were dumping it in the ocean. I should think they would have been trying to sell it.