xbhntr wrote:Great fish , too bad you didn't release it . Any fish over 3 lbs. caught in Lake Ontario is not fit for eating ! Mercury , dioxins , mirex and other contaminates are in the meat. The LCBO has a book on pollution levels in fish onthe Great Lakes and the safe levels for consumption . I gave up fishing the Great Lakes for chinook , coho salmon , rainbow and lake trout because of the polluted toxins in their meat . Ray
I am sorry but you can not be further from the truth there xbhntr.
Yes there are chemicals in the fish, but you will also find that there are a lot more chemicals in "VIRGIN" lakes in Norther Ontario. Plus very little of the meat holds the chemicals. You will find these in the fatty parts, the latterial line (the dark meat) and close to the back bone. IF you fillet them and remove these portions you remove almost 90% of the chemicals in the fish.
Now since they say that you can eat 1 meal a week safely ( they assume you are going to consume all the chemicals when they say that), you will be really safe when you get rid of almost 90% would you not say.
Now you might be asking how I know this, well my family did run a charter boat business in Lake Ontario for almost 20 years. Things like this we needed to know and the MNR was very helpful. Yes we even had a box of those books at the boat for anyone that wanted one.
Would I eat a large Salmon from Lake Ontario, YES I would, but I do prefer smaller4 - 8 pounds as the meat is firmer ...... BUT Pickerel (Walleye for you Americans) and Perch are my top 2 choices.
Nice Catch ........ those pics did take me back to the days when we ran the boat.
Tom