Thread: High mercury levels found in 16 OK Lakes

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.