84% of world’s fish not safe to eat more than once a month

3/4/2013 12:24pm by 88

A study finds that 84% of the world’s fish tested was not safe to eat more than once per month because of mercury poisoning. And 13% of the fish isn’t safe to eat, period. Though honestly, I’m not sure how happy I am eating something that’s so poisonous you can only eat one serving per month.

In the United States the number is better.  Though in the US the study only looked at one fish, Alaskan Halibut (which I’ve had, it’s yummy).  43% of Alaskan Halibut was only safe to eat once a month because of its mercury levels.

And in Japan and Uruguay, the study found that “Mercury concentrations in fish from sites in Japan and Uruguay were so high that no consumption is recommended.”

Fish via Shutterstock

Fish via Shutterstock

The study comes from the  Bioresearch Diversity Institute, and was released in January, but I’d missed it.  This chart shows the percent of fish tested in each country that is not safe to eat more than once per month. While in the US they only tested one fish, Alaskan Halibut, in other countries they tested 15-20 fish per country, I was told by Dr. David Evers of the Bioresearch Diversity Institute, one of those behind the study.

Percentage of fish in that country that can only safely be eaten once per month.

Percentage of fish in that country that can only safely be eaten once per month.

As the chart above shows, in Italy and Japan, 100% of the fish tested was only safe to eat once per month.

Evers pointed me to a handy chart they have up showing how much fish you can eat per month and safely avoid mercury poisoning – but keep in mind, this is just mercury.  You also have to research PCB limits on eating fish as well:

how much fish you can eat per month

Interestingly, the federal guidelines say to only eat two servings of salmon per week, whereas the chart says not to worry about it.

I have to say, the more I read about this kind of thing, the less I want to eat fish all together. If you have to check multiple tables to find out whether it’s even safe at all to eat fish, then why eat it? I get that it’s good for you (if it doesn’t kill you), but damn, this is the point we’ve come to – having to check tables in the grocery store to see if particular foods are going to eventually poison us.

Not to mention, what the hell are we doing to the world?

Here’s more on this from CBS:

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@aravosis | Facebook | Google+. Editor of AMERICAblog, joint JD/MSFS from Georgetown, worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, and as a stringer for the Economist. A frequent TV pundit, he has been on The O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline & Reliable Sources. Full bio and .

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  • Solid State Max

    Leave the fish alone. Even for fish oil, could just go straight to flaxseed oil for your Omega 3s.

  • hollywoodstein

    Try boquerones marinated in vinegar and oil. Excellent and safe too.

  • Bill_Perdue

    Ewwww. Soon we’ll be reduced to tofu. Ewwww.

    • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

      Soy beings!

  • hollywoodstein

    Well you gotta go from something. Although, I was planning on going from alcohol poisoning, not this.

  • indep_in_la

    Becoming vegetarian is starting to look better all the time now.

    • Naja pallida

      Except for the un-labeled genetically modified vegetables and fruits, that nobody has any real idea what will be the long term effect. Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc, some of which too, like mercury, can build up in the human body over time and exposure causing increased detrimental effects. Then there’s the e.coli and salmonella in spinach, tomatoes, onions, and who knows what else, that have led to countless recalls over the last decade. The “free market” has been absolutely terrible for our food supply, and our overall health as a nation.

      Your better option would be to move to a country with real laws on food labeling, and actual food safety testing, and some kind of system of harvest sustainability. If such a place really exists.

      • indep_in_la

        I sure hope you don’t work a suicide prevention hotline :-) I’m thinking more of the grow-my-own – where possible – and reduce the market purchases as much as possible.

        Yes, we’re poisoning our planet and ourselves – all in the name of profit.

  • loona_c

    And I noticed Trader Joe’s fish all seemed to be labeled Product of Thailand. I lived in Bangkok for many years and I KNOW what’s in their waters. Ewww

    • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

      Dog knows Loona! In fact a hundred miles out to sea from Bangkok you can see huge islands of floating garbage.

      • loona_c

        When I lived there (oh so long ago!) they used plastic bags (tied with rubber bands with a straw in it) to serve the ubiquitous Thai coffee and tea drinks. Those bags were everywhere. A friend was in the British navy and he said every couple of hours they had to send a diver down to the British carrier (or whatever) parked in the Chao Pya River to get the plastic out of the moter mechanisms/air intake. And that was many years ago. Not to mention what really goes into the klongs.

  • loona_c

    And living along the Gulf of Mexico I’ve quit eating fish from that body of water because of the oil spill.

    • http://twitter.com/BillFromDover Bill from Dover

      Ya mean you have a problem with:

      Shrimp with tumors on their heads

      Shrimp with defects on their gills and “shells missing around their gills and head”

      Shrimp without eyes

      Shrimp with babies still attached to them

      Eyeless fish

      Fish without eye-sockets

      Fish without covers on their gills

      Fish with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills

      Crates of blue crabs, all of which were lacking at least one claw

      Crabs with holes in their shells

      Crabs with shells that have no spikes or claws or misshapen claws

      Crabs that are dying from within

      • loona_c

        TMI!!! LOL Right when the oil “spill” started it was clear BP was turning the Gulf into a cesspool. I went out to lunch right then and had my last Gulf oysters and shrimp. No more.

      • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

        And that’s just in the back marshes of Mississipp! God works in mysterious ways.

      • lynchie

        Those are only from the Allegheny river in Pittsburgh. You forgot two headed fish.

  • hoary_nodens

    Love it. Karma slowly catching up to the ravenous beast. It would be oh so perfect if the few fish humanity hasn’t already exterminated slowly poison us.

    Whatever your cause, it’s a lost cause with 7 billion (and counting) people on the planet.

    Why do I keep harping on this? Because it is the ultimate taboo. Whatever you do, don’t mention the root of all the problems, the ULTIMATE cause.

    You can stare reality in the face or you can keep wondering why “everything” keeps getting worse. And don’t lecture me with “Well what is your solution then genius?”

    It’s not a problem to be solved, its a predicament, and there is no “solution”

    • hollywoodstein

      Aliens?

  • TuxedoCartman

    Okay, I just have one question about all of this (and I’m really not being fecitious): if fish stocks in Japan are so unhealthy that it is recommended you don’t eat them at all, how is it the Japanese are some of the longest lived people on earth? Fish is a daily part of their diet. What am I missing here?

    • http://twitter.com/BillFromDover Bill from Dover

      My guess would be that it takes time to do its job; kinda like dieing from lung cancer after 60 years of chain smoking.

      And it took a while and thousands of coal-burning plants to pollute the oceans up to the levels we see today.

      So it ain’t necessarily the longevity of life but the quality that really counts.

      But, we also have evidence right here in the good ole US of A of what happens to those that consume too much mercury-laden seafood. To wit:

      http://americablog.com/2009/09/you-really-need-to-watch-this-video-of-the-teabagger-protest-in-dc-this-past-weekend.html

      • TuxedoCartman

        Perhaps pointing to length of life rather than quality was the wrong approach. But even still, if you look at overall quality of health in their country, they’re not exactly experiencing a wave of cancers or neurological problems of any kind, as far as I’m aware of. And I lived there until just last year. The only health problems that seem to have occupied the public concerned is the increasing rate of obesity, which is being blamed on (right or wrong) the increasing amount of fast food being eaten, like McDonald’s.

        Do I believe our oceans and waterways are dangerously polluted? Yes. Do I believe that we’ve overfished our oceans to the point of total ecosystem collapse? Oh gods yes. But I’m having a hard time believing the science that 84% of the world’s fish are unsafe to eat, when countries that make fish a primary part of their diet are still on average much healthier than we are. Something’s not adding up here, and my gut thinks this is an oogity-boogity scare story.

        • Annika

          Story was probably created by a large soy/ tofu foundation utilizing intelligent marketing efforts.

          Anyways, I just sat down and ate about a pound of nice Red Snapper fillets I caught off the ( eastern) coast of Florida. mmm mmm mmm! Also on point, Blackened ( not cajun ) Swordfish is amazing and Black Tip Shark is excellent too.

          Man has been eating animals for thousands of years and we are still here. And weaker, unfortunate beings are not.

          All you vegan tofu eatin’ ninnies need to get a life and your heads screwed back on straight. If a dolphin or marlin gets caught in the tuna nets, darn, more food for me.

          USA = A whole bunch of complainers

    • hollywoodstein

      An education.

    • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

      They make up for it by beiong short in stature.

  • http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind BeccaM

    What are we doing to the world? We hominids are destroying the ecosystem in the name of “because we want to.”

    We’re engineering our own extinction.

    • hollywoodstein

      We keep breeding. And though we are social animals there always seem to be a few of us who want it all.

    • nicho

      Estimates are that we will have killed ourselves off in 150 to 200 years. But it won’t be sudden, and life will continue on the downward trajectory we’re already on. I am so glad I have no kids and therefore no grandkids. It’s not going to be pretty.

      • http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind BeccaM

        My wife and I have had similar thoughts. But we feel bad for all our nieces and nephews, because they’re going to be among the first generations to truly experience the decline and fall of the human race.

        • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

          For decades many of us have been reporting and writing about this to the derision of the rationalists and now here we are drowning in an end stage capitalist sewer. Thank dog i’m on the short side of 70ty I doubt I could make it much longer.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sandy-Hultgren/544323866 Sandy Hultgren

        Indeed. I really figured human population would last for much longer but I think you’re being over optimistic with the 150-200 year range. My kids have none of their own. I really hope they don’t go that route.

  • Ford Prefect

    When considering Alaskan seafood, remember one word: Fukushima. The US has refused to test Pacific seafood for radiological contaminants. There is a reason for this. If you’ve been eating Alaskan Halibut, you’ve probably ingested some Cesium along with the mercury.

    • hollywoodstein

      I am aware of tests showing it has made it to our coast.

      • hollywoodstein

        West Coast that is.

        • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

          One can only imagine that all that polluted fish remains south of Santa Barbara, which does not allow unpleasantness north of Montecitto.

      • Ford Prefect

        Yes, in the kelp off of Orange County, CA. But they’re not testing the fish and have refused to do so. Also worth noting is Obama’s pick to head EPA was in charge of all the atmospheric testing post-Fukushima, when 80% of the collectors went off-line and never came back on.

        • hollywoodstein

          The tests I am speaking of were by a private company. It’s in the fish.

          • Ford Prefect

            Oh yeah. I’m thinking it was blue fin tuna. You are correct!

            • hollywoodstein

              Blue fin would make sense since they are top predators of baitfish, but this was found in the little guys.

    • nicho

      But I do save on night lights.

      • Ford Prefect

        Indeed. That greenish glow also doesn’t interfere with night vision!

      • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

        And paper bags without printing!

      • TuxedoCartman

        Because jokes about disasters that displaced tens of thousands, and may have poisoned tens of ours ands more, are hi-larious.

    • Sweetie

      And don’t forget about the oil dispersant.

      • Ford Prefect

        Of course. It’s why I don’t eat anything from the Gulf anymore. Last year I went to the Outer Banks and I only went to restaurants that promise only local seafood–which is better than Gulf fish anyway. So write off Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico and what else? Oh yeah, at some point, Hawaiian as well.

      • hollywoodstein

        Wasn’t it amazing how they had it ready to go and sprayed such vast amounts in secret?

  • hollywoodstein

    Weren’t the oceans to feed the burgeoning world population?

    • Naja pallida

      Anyone who thought that fisheries alone would sustain world population growth was smoking from a giant crack pipe.

      • hollywoodstein

        Plenty of front page stories in the sixties, seventies and eighties and nineties, how we should not worry about population Growth! since we can turn the ocean into a fish factory.

      • lynchie

        Crack probably safer than eating fish.

  • hollywoodstein

    What to do you expect? The world has been using the ocean as an industrial toilet for decades.

    • hollywoodstein

      I stopped eating fish a few years ago because of this, except for the occasional meal, and some trout I catch from a mountain spring that’s been tested.

      • hollywoodstein

        Okay, I still have Bluefin once a year.
        It makes me a bad person, but I have never denied that I am a bad person.

        • hollywoodstein

          When the world is running down,
          You make the best of what’s still around.

          • http://twitter.com/BillFromDover Bill from Dover

            Hey, hows about a big hand for all that clean coal we are burning.

            Keep this in mind every time ya see one of these misleading commercials.

            Anybody ever done a study that shows when the oceans will be pretty much devoid of life… period?

            • Drew2u

              “Red Tide!”

          • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

            Sounds like white Russians in Paris.

            • hollywoodstein

              You were there that night too!?

              • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

                I love to recall that whirl of mist in the Tolleries, the shadows, the early spring warmth. It cost me a diamond brooch and a sapphire hat pin, but it was worth drinking Champagne from a riding boot.

              • hollywoodstein

                Ah yes, I remember it well.

        • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

          My kind of bad HS, my kind of bad. And, next time I see Jiro I’ll eat some Maguro and Uni in your honor!

          • hollywoodstein

            Thank you, karmanot.

          • hollywoodstein

            However, karmanot, do not egg Miss Woodstein on tonight. She is drinking more than usual today tonight,and is afraid of what might happen.

            • hollywoodstein

              today, tonight, today insomnia is a bitch.

    • medium lebowski

      This might be a good eye opener. Just start calling them “The Atlantic Toilet” “The Pacific Toilet”, etc.

    • medium lebowski

      Or, “Pacific Waste Dump” “Atlantic Waste Dump.”

  • nicho

    Now, if only our vegetables weren’t being poisoned by agribusiness, we could all become vegans. But there are more foodborne illnesses from vegetables than from out contaminated meat supply — and now fish supply. Thank dog for minimal regulations and lack of inspections — the corporatists’ dream. “The market” will straighten things out.

    • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

      Monsanto Franken food for all!

  • UncleBucky

    Halt the fisheries world-wide, then. This is just another good excuse. Too bad, Long John Silver, you can do your piracy some other way. Horsemeat fingers, anybody? ;o)

    • hollywoodstein

      The Pollack fishery was still in good shape and sustainable last I checked many moons ago.

    • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

      It has been rumored that some evil survivalist has published a Donner Party cookbook.

  • SkippyFlipjack

    If anyone’s curious — the biggest fish are the worst for you in terms of mercury because mercury doesn’t erode, it keeps collecting as fish eat and get eaten. Fish at the highest trophic level — top of the food chain — have the most mercury.

    The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s pocket fish chart is a good reference guide; it grades fish based on effect on the environment and fishery status, plus notes which are bad in terms of contaminants.

    • Ford Prefect

      Bioaccumulation. That’s why I prepare a lot of smaller fish, especially sardines when I can get them.

      • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

        Here in grapeland and winery world ,Methylbromide, one of the most horrible neurotoxins in the world, is still used to kill all life forms one meter down in the soil to plant new vineyards. bon appetite!

        • Ford Prefect

          Dammit. I go to the Central Coast appellations several times a year. Now I have to ask every wine maker I meet about this. One must wonder if that leeches into groundwater.

          • http://adgitadiaries.com/ karmanot

            Well, I must admit that some of the local families do look like Gulf shrimp.

            • Ford Prefect

              LOL

  • Drew2u
    • Naja pallida

      Primarily because tilapia are aqua-cultured on a huge scale… and are easy to raise in the disgusting environments of fish farms. Doesn’t mean it isn’t actually the species that is found in Alaska… but I would doubt it. Tilapia is one of the most diverse groups of fish, and found all over the world. They could pick any of a hundred different species and label it as “Alaskan”, and since we have no real regulations making sure our food is actually labeled as what it really is…

    • hollywoodstein

      I hated paying for Copper River salmon and getting home and realizing it was farmed.

  • markofthebeasts

    I recall in an environmental class a few years ago that one of the states in the US had not detected mercury in its fish. That state, was Wyoming. That state did not see any value in testing pollution in fish, hence no tests were done, therefore no pollution was detected, at least by the state government.

  • dula

    Lawd what about fish oil?

    • http://AMERICAblog.com/ John Aravosis

      As of four years ago they were safe.
      http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/health/24real.html

    • Naja pallida

      For some reason I doubt most fish oil products ever start out as anything we would recognize as fish… but from what I’ve read, no brands have been found to contain notable amounts of mercury. I’m sure your mileage may vary, as supplements are so poorly regulated.

    • Sweetie

      Studies have recently found that fish oil isn’t healthy. It can even lead to oily blood. The body doesn’t absorb the beneficial omega-3 and ALA from fish oil capsules the way it absorbs it from fish.

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