SAFER FISH FOR DINNER

Eating fish is usually safe because the contamination -- PCBs, heavy metals, etc. -- isn't great enough to be a hazard for those who eat fish now and then. Then too, as a rule of thumb, smaller fish that live for a shorter period -- various panfish and immature adults -- have less time to concentrate PCBs and the like. It's only when you get well up the food chain -- raptors and pelicans in the old DDT days, for example, that there's a major hazzard.

Nore: I've eaten fish from most parts of the world without major problems save one time when I pigged down a mussel that wasn't tightly closed when it went into the pot.

So it's my information and belief that a modest amount of fish from the typically mildly pollluted waters in industrial countries aren't a major problem even if you consider the case in Japan where fishermen became ill and died after years of eating seafood from contaminated waters.

Howver, there are other hazzards you need to consider. Shellfish present problems because they filter their food and tend to concentrate bacteria and things like organisms that cause the "Red Tides" that shut down clam and mussel seasons on the West Coast of the US. During such times beaches and rocks are posted in most parts of the civilized world. Such isn't the case elsewhere. The old rule -- eat shellfish only in months with an "R" -- makes sense in the Northern Hemisphere too.

Do realize some fish are poison. Most are tropical species. Many fall into the general classification of "box fish." A few are seasonally bad news. So it's vital that you not eat any unknown fish from tropical water until you've checked.

Like chickens and other foods, fish have more than a few parasites too. For example, Jack smelt from the West Coast often have worms along their backbones. While these aren't a problem for humans, filleting seems in order. Other fish include cysts, various skin and internal parasites and much else.

Finally, realize that fish and shellfish can go bad fast in warm weather or if "stringered" in warm water. Ice fish down in a chest as soon as caught and you avoid problems as well as improving taste and texture.

None of this means you need avoid fish and shellfish for dinner. Rather that, as is the case with hunters, you keep an eye out for problem areas. "When in doubt, don't" seems a good rule.

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