Stirring the Pot -- July 8, 2009
Stew Slater The federal Health ministry made a bit of a splash last year with its updated version of the Canada Food Guide. Along with adding common and not-so-common foods of non-European ethnic origin, there was heightened praise for the consumption of fish as a source of essential fatty acids.
But alongside those recommendations was a reminder about potential contaminants in fish – exposing the conundrum that, although essential fatty acids are crucial for brain development in fetuses and young children, consumption of most fish by pregnant women and children should be limited due to the risk they’ll be exposed to mercury or PCBs.
Health Canada’s website provides information about contamination risk for various entrees. Unfortunately, it concentrates heavily on saltwater species, with rainbow trout and whitefish among the few freshwater fish listed.
For Great Lakes Basin residents keen on the local food trend, a much better resource is the Ontario government’s Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish, available at LCBO stores or online at www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/water/fishguide/index.php.
“The levels of the contaminants found in most Ontario fish do not cause immediate health effects. However, eating contaminated fish regularly may result in accumulation of contaminants in the body to levels that can become a health concern,” the guide advises. Regarding consumption, it suggests a host of factors might come into play, including the size, species, habitat and lifestyle (predator versus vegetarian) of the fish, the time of year, and the fish’s stage of development.
“If we consider consuming fish for their (fatty acid) benefits, fatty fish such as salmon and trout are generally a healthier choice compared to lean fish such as walleye, pike and yellow perch.” But PCBs tend to concentrate in fatty tissue, so it may be wise to avoid over-consumption of trout from areas known to have high PCB levels.
The guide provides three main take-away points: “A) Eat pan fish, such as perch, sunfish and crappie, as they tend to have lower contaminants than predator fish, such as walleye and pike. B) If you decide to eat predator fish, eat smaller rather than larger ones. C) Trim away skin and belly fat from fatty fish, avoid eating organs/eggs, and cook fish properly.”
All of this might be useless information to people who look at the factories and farms belching their effluent into our lakes and rivers, and decide they’ll never eat Ontario fish. But to Todd Sleeper, the man behind the St. Marys area’s annual Thames River Clean-up, it’s not only familiar info, it might even seem like overkill.
On a regular basis, Sleeper, his wife Deanne and their four kids stroll down the bank from their Blanshard Ward home, cast their lines into the Thames River, and capture their supper.
“The fish is edible. You can ask any biologist. But in moderation,” said Sleeper last week. “A lot of the fish we catch, we normally throw back. But my kids want to eat it, too. We’re having bass tonight.”
The province’s annual Family Fishing Weekend – when you can fish license-free for three days, this year from July 10-12 – make it an ideal time for some of Sleeper’s suggestions about angling opportunities in the St. Marys area.
The Thames, at places like the Trafalgar Bridge north of town, the Plover Mills bridge south of town, and The Flats right in town, are home to pike, rock bass, and smallmouth bass.
“The Thames River is just full of bass,” Sleeper says. “There are lots of smallmouth bass – and big ones.” He adds that well-known fly-fishing guide Ian Colin James (just Google his name; you’ll see) loves to take heavy-spending American visitors to an undisclosed Thames River location somewhere between London and St. Marys.
Also here in town, at the Old Quarry, “you just drop the line right down the wall and the bass are just laying there waiting for worms.”
Up Trout Creek, there are lots of pike in the Wildwood reservoir. And above that, trout linger in the cold water streams that have long been threatened by agricultural development across the southern part of the province, but have been preserved by the numerous  undisturbed woodlands and swamplands in the Harrington area.
Sleeper would like to see heightened regulations regarding the interface between agricultural land uses and waterways. The current approach of offering funding in return for voluntary measures, he argues, is insufficient.
In the short term, though, what he would really like to see is fewer of what he calls “weekend fishermen” and more of what he refers to as “anglers.”
“Some of these once or twice-a-year fishermen come out and leave lots of stuff behind.” To that end, he has procured and placed garbage cans at Plover Mills, the Trafalgar Bridge and the Old Quarry (unfortunately, those at the latter location were repeatedly vandalized so he gave up). But he still finds cigarette packages, bait containers, food refuse and fishing line (which is dangerous to wildlife) at all the popular fishing holes.
“A true angler packs out what they brought in,” he concludes.