"He describes one of Australia's most polluted fishing spots (perhaps the most polluted), where the fish are too toxic to eat, as a great spot to fish. That's pretty much the definition of spin PJ".

Contrary to FD's spin, you can actually eat fish from Sydney Harbour:

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/info/sydney-closure



Previous test results have revealed elevated levels of dioxins in fish and crustaceans across Sydney Harbour, including Parramatta River and other connected tidal waterways. A ban was consequently placed on commercial fishing in 2006 as a precautionary measure.

Recreational fishing in the Harbour has not been banned, but fishers are urged to follow dietary advice on the consumption of seafood from the Sydney Harbour, Parramatta River and other connected tidal waterways. Fishers can also continue to practise catch and release. Based on advice from an expert panel, the Government is recommending that:

No fish or crustaceans caught west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge should be eaten. You should release your catch.
For fish caught east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge generally no more than 150 grams per month should be consumed.
Testing of popular species has allowed for more accurate dietary advice.
The table below provides advice on the maximum consumption of single species.

Recommended maximum intake based on eating a single species caught east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 
Species  Number of 150 gram serves  Amounts per month 
Prawns*  4 per month  600 g 
Crab  5 per month  750 g 
Bream  1 per month  150 g 
Flounder  12 per month  1800 g 
Kingfish  12 per month  1800 g 
Luderick  12 per month  1800 g 
Sand Whiting  8 per month  1200 g 
Sea Mullet  1 every 3 months  50 g 
Silver Biddie  1 per month  150 g 
Silver Trevally  5 per month  750 g 
Tailor  1 per month  150 g 
Trumpeter Whiting  12 per month  1800 g 
Yellowtail Scad  8 per month  1200 g 
Squid  4 per month  600 g 
Dusky flathead  12 per month  1800 g 
Fanbellied leatherjacket    24 per month  3600 g 

Important Note: This advice is provided if one single species is being eaten. For example eating 150 grams of Bream and 600 grams of prawns in one month would exceed the recommended intake. Eating 300 g prawns, 300g sand whiting and 300g yellowtail scad in one month would equal the recommended maximum intake.

freediver wrote on Jun 30^th, 2013 at 6:29pm:



If you look at the individual species quite a few you can eat more than 1800g a month. Do you eat that much fish a month FD? I don't.

More spin eh FD?

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Do you realise that you cannot reach the limit for each species? One small serve of sea Mullet and you will put yourself over the limit if you eat anything else from the harbour for three months. I probably do eat that much at the moment. I am making my way through a large spanish, plus I eat other seafood on top of that. But in any case, having to consult a table for each different species I catch to reduce the risk of poisoning myself and figuring out the combined effect from different species (a table produced by the same government who tried to cover it up and then spun it as a good quality "great spot to fish") -would put me off eating anything at all from there. Not that I need a government warning to tell me that Sydney Harbour is not the cleanest fishery around. If people refusing to eat the fish because they don't like being poisoned up to the legal limit makes it productive in your opinion, go for it.

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It has been polluted for over a century. I don't need a German toxicology report to tell me that. The government intervention was in response to a growing public outcry. It was not the cause of it.

Quote:


I can get through 600 grams of prawns in one session. And don't tell me fishermen rarely eat prawns.

Tell me PJ, if it turned out that your favourite fishing spot was a nuclear waste dump, but the government said it was OK for you to be there fishing for 6 hours every month* before receiving a dangerous dose of radiation (after dragging their heels to even acknowledge there is a problem), would you fish there for 6 hours a month?

If the fisheries minister came out 2 years later with "and the opinion survey says it is a top fishing spot, really good quality" would you take it at face value, and even read more into it than what he actually said?

How many fish from Sydney Harbour do you eat?

Suppose you lived in the area and the fish were as easy to catch as you make out. How do you think you would end up going compared to the table of what is safe?

How do you think you would end up going compared to the table of what is safe?

1.8kg a month works out to 60 grams a day on average. And that is for the (very few) "safer" species. You would not have to eat fish very often (for a fisherman) to push that limit.