Thread: High mercury levels found in 16 OK Lakes

I doubt that the coal burning is the whole issue. Like CG said it is naturally occurring and that can account for 1/3 of what they find. If the coal issue was the only issue then it would seem Oologah would not be on the lowest level list, there's a power plant that uses coal right next to it. It seems that a lot of the larger lakes are safer probably due in part to the larger pool of water to dilute the toxins with and the fact that there is a lot of new water in old water out action.
CG do carp not eat the zoo-plankton? According to that article (again its Tulsa World, so it's investigation may be lacking) the zoo-plankton are absorbing the mercury and that's how it's introduced up into the food-stream.

cricket george I know that there is mercury and other heavy metals in our heavy clay soil occuring naturally and from past transgressions being stored in the soil. I knew that you would bring that up. Any disturbance of soil from construction or dredging will stir up the metals and with rainfall the metals will be transported to the rivers/lakes and on up the chain. So you can't tell how much is natural, past history, or current. If it was the coal plants you would see high levels near them. It is just like global warming. There isn't enough data over long enough time to tell.

On the fish that they termed "Do not eat", I wouldn't eat them until the levels come down to be on the safe side. The ones that tested a little high I would limit meals to 4-6 times a month if you wanted to be on the safe side.

Personally, pass the tarter sauce it won't change my eating habits any.

Is there any way to find out when they will check Eufaula? I don't want to buy a house there if I cannot eat the fish. We would eat fish 4-5 times a week if we had that much in the freezer. Would catfish be the worst fish to eat since they are usually bigger and eat off the bottom? Of course I don't have any problem even catching larger fish! I catch the little ones just big enough to make the size limit. :D

George is spot on, it has nothing to do with pollution, it's about the buildup of naturally occuring toxins in predator fish. You can still eat them, just follow the recommendations.

Every time I see some guy cleaning a catfish over a few pounds I'm confused. Are they ignorant or do they just not care? First of all, they taste like crap. Second of all these are the very fish that have the most buildup of these toxins. Yet people keep on cleaning them and feeding them to their families and friends. Not to mention in some cases, the person is killing a creature that is potentially older than they are just so they can get a few pounds of nasty tasting fillets. It seems rediculous to me but whatever, it's their choice.

I generally keep blues that are 10 pounds and down because of this problem. I have had lenghty discussions with ODWC fisheries staff regarding the toxin issue.