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Re: The White Croaker and Asian American Eating Habits

conservasian — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:03:05 -0000

Better safe than sorry. I don't know their exact protocol in figuring out toxicity levels but my guess would be they have sampled the fish populations in that area and they can determine the average levels of toxins of the fish there Then those levels could be used to determine how much the average, healthy young person could safely eat (plus another category for child-bearing women/young children/seniors). Nothing is ever 100% accurate but you can be sure they are NOT kidding at all. I hate wasting food as well (I especially hate it when I watch people 'fillet' fish--such a crime!) but I personally would put my health over that. It is really sad that ignorant idiots in the past have left such lasting impacts on innocent people today. And in many/most cases, people of color.

Re: The White Croaker and Asian American Eating Habits

jeffat8asians — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:03:16 -0000

@msjen: Thanks for the info. "Suspicious" probably wasn't the best word. I found it amazing (and perhaps risky and perhaps not 100% credible) that they could figure out toxicity levels to the point where you should only eat only certain amounts of fish per month or week. Also thanks for the pointer to the Surfriders foundation. On the other pointer, I think you mean Heal the Bay. Let me know if this is wrong.

Re: The White Croaker and Asian American Eating Habits

Ms. Jen — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:00:07 -0000

Hi Jeff,

It is not suspicious, it is ocean currents. The DDT plume arches away from the Palos Verdes pennisula and into the South Bay/Santa Monica Bay. The DDT manufacturer was in Torrance and they dumped on the Santa Monica Bay side, not the Long Beach/San Pedro side.

Thus if you want to fish, do so south of Seal Beach, and preferably south of Newport Beach.

Also, the US military dumped nuclear waste in regular metal oil barrels in the 1950s into the Santa Monica Bay.

Basically, do NOT eat any fish caught fresh from Point Dume (Malibu) south to Point Hume (San Pedro).

If this upsets you and the LA Asian community, then get involved with the Save the Bay Foundation and Surfriders Foundation, as they are both on the forefront of the lead to clean up the Santa Monica Bay.