# Eating Steelhead - Mercury ?



## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

I've been eating the steelhead I catch and they are simply delicious. I fillet them and leave the skin on it. Let it soak in saltwater over night and then marinate it in different concoctions. Bake them and it tastes amazing. I'm just curious if I should be concerned with the amount I eat since with the information shown here from route 2 in the Grand river to the mouth of Lake Erie that 18" rainbow trout have PCB's.

It really sucks that they recommend only eating 1 fish a month, and that's form Lake Erie too.

http://www.epa.state.oh.us/portals/35/fishadvisory/fishadvisory_pamphlet.pdf


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

Its no secret that Lake Erie has high concentrations of pollution and chemical substances. The bigger the fish, the longer they've been exposed in the lake, the worse for you they are.

I don't eat steelhead, because I believe in catch & release sport fishing, but I don't eat walleye/perch out of the lake either.


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## Rasper (Sep 6, 2012)

Man I used get sick from swimming the shoreline of Lake erie.


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## tehsavage (Aug 16, 2013)

Bleeding the fish when you catch them, soaking fillets in salt water and cutting away all silvery fat on fillets helps tremendously.


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

tehsavage said:


> Bleeding the fish when you catch them, soaking fillets in salt water and cutting away all silvery fat on fillets helps tremendously.


I do bleed the fish as well and soak in salt water, but when you mention cutting away all silvery fat on fillets...do you mean that you fillet both sides and not cook with the skin on?


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## tehsavage (Aug 16, 2013)

Yes absolutely. Perch and bluegill I leave skin on as it adds more flavor and with steelies and walleye I take skin off cause all those toxins are stored in the fat between the skin and meat. When you take the skin off you will see silvery parts left on the meat. Just cut all that off


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## Hookjaw (Sep 23, 2012)

Copied from the Penn Fish and Boat Comm.

Q. How should you clean and cook fish that might contain PCBs?[/B]

PCBs and most other organic contaminants usually build up in a fish's fat deposits and just underneath the skin. By removing the skin and fat before cooking, you can reduce the levels of these chemicals.
One of the best ways to reduce your exposure, and get a more enjoyable meal, is to fillet the fish:
1.Prepare the fish by making a cut along the back, near the dorsal fin.
2.Cut the length of the fish, working toward the tail and belly&#8211;but don&#8217;t cut into the belly. Let the rib bones guide your knife blade to get the fullest fillets.
3.At the tail, don&#8217;t cut the fillet off. Guide the knife blade between the skin and the flesh.
4.Flip the fish over and repeat. 

You can take other steps to reduce chemicals in the fish you eat:
&#8226;Remove all skin.
&#8226;Slice off fat belly meat along the bottom of the fish.
&#8226;Cut away any fat above the fish&#8217;s backbone.
&#8226;Cut away the V-shaped wedge of fat along the lateral line on each side of the fish.
&#8226;Bake or broil trimmed fish on a rack or grill so the remaining fat drips away.
&#8226;Discard any drippings. Do not eat them or use them for cooking other foods.

Illustration showing how to clean fish


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

Hookjaw, thanks. That's how I usually fillet all my fish I catch but I haven't been on steelhead trout because I thought it was normal to keep the skin on from all the recipes I follow. Now I know to fillet just as I normally do. I am going to search for the PA EPA Sportfish recommendations. I'm curious how often they say to eat the steelhead.

Update*** I just found for Lake Erie Steelhead in PA it is one meal a month as well. I find it really depressing we have screwed up our waters so much that we have to worry about eating fish. I don't care if you're a catch and release or catch and keep...that is still a depressing fact with our water.


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## DiverDux (May 19, 2012)

Things are much better with our water today than a few decades ago. Before the Clean Water Act contaminants were discharged directly into our waterways. Today, nothing can be discharged without a permit. The problem lies with contaminants that persist in the environment for long periods of time, (i.e. PCB's, mercury etc.). These contaminants were dumped into our waterways a long time ago and are still environmentally active, thus they are still showing-up in our sportfish as well as other aquatic organisms.

Follow the consumption advisory and you should be fine.


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