Can You Eat The Fish From Cooks River?

[sijia26]

hello

im new to fishing only 6 months but done well in the bay.. sometimes

mainly end up with alot of trevally and few bream

i was told that cooks river is fired up on bream but i know its polluted

some anglers i've talk to say you can eat the fish downstream ish in the cooks

railway bridge near tempe onwards or the tram bridge closer to the boat ramp

does anyone know the realistic answer?

everyone says.. " no one has died yet"

but i don't want to have the best bream sesson but not be able to give it to my family or... something happens to them =)

[slinkymalinky]

Lots of people do... you can tell them in a crowd. They're the ones with 3 eyes and hair that glows in the dark.

With so many other places to grab a feed I wouldn't touch fish out of Cooks River but maybe there's someone on Fishraider who works for the CSIRO or something??

Cheers, Slinky

[Tony Soprano]

This was partially covered in another recent topic by roosterman...

I'll have a look for the link.

To be honest I'm of the opinion if you have to ask the question it's probably not worth it.

Cheers

Tony

EDIT: Here you go-

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=30715

Edited May 20, 2008 by Tony Soprano

[Davemmm]

It's my understanding that although most of the industry has left the river area there are still large amounts of heavy metals in the sediment. I heard stories years ago of plans to dredge but the amount of crap that would have been raised and then flowed into the bay made it too hard. As long as the sediment isnt touched apparently it is reasonably safe.

The problems with the heavy metal is that the organisms (crabs, prawns etc) that live in it that are then eaten by the fish.

I think it's fairly common knowledge not to eat from the Cooks river but the question is how far out into the bay do the fish travel.

I'm just going to ignore the Cooks and pretend fish cant swim too far.

Dave

[fishhunter76]

Hi Cj, ive growen up around the area, as years past it gets more polluted. I wouldnt put the fishes there on a plate , worth catching and releasing for the fun of it. Cheers

[pelican]

Nice spot but not worth the risk- bigger the fish bigger the risk - you can catch eating fish elsewhere. Not sure how often they will retest or monitor as they know there was historically some very toxic pollution there.

Even if it wasn't for the old industry sediment ( in some parts near the Alexandria canal at the entrance to bay it is worse than Homebush Bay) you have to remember that whole areas of Sydney drain into the cooks. Fair enough there is some rubbish traps and stuff but that only makes it look Ok. Half the Cooks and it's original streams are all concrete canals so a lot of the natural things like mangroves and reed beds that retain and naturally process all the stuff from our gutters, footpaths ,roads and drains no longer exist. There is a lot of run off from golf courses and playing fields of fertiliser and so on. Fecal amtter was high on test years ago and they always blame dogs but those levels has to be the 100 plus year old sewerage system the built on the reclaimed swamps around the Cooks.

Unfortunately I don't think there is enough bits of the Cooks left in a natural state to create any more of a recovery as a lot of the natural processes don't have areas to grow.

Some great sports fish in there but not for my table.

[Jiggy]

Sadly like most waterways running through urban areas the Cooks is treated like a city drain; not as much as in the past but still a lot of things that should go elsewhere goes into it. I launch at Kyeemagh and on the runout tide the river can smell of sewerage. For many years now I gut all my fish offshore and scale them at home, I won't clean them in the Cooks. Actually eating fish from there I say probably won't kill you in small doses but is best avoided, C&R fishery only I say.

Cheers

Jiggy

[sijia26]

thank you everyone for your answers

but if the fish goes into the bay and we catch them

i guess that can't be avoided

[Kit]

thank you everyone for your answers

but if the fish goes into the bay and we catch them

i guess that can't be avoided

I'm just wondering: would eating fish from those waterways be worse than inhaling cigarette smoke?

a lot of fishermen smoke....

I don't eat the fish from cooks, and I'm generally careful with fish in the parra too; but I also don't smoke.

But you also need to consider that fish swim everywhere, so the bream caught today in Sydney harbour could have been in Homebush bay or Cooks river yesterday.

So having said that I'm probably being silly if I think the fish from Sydney harbour are safer than the fish in the Cooks

Chris

[Dreamtime]

would eating fish from those waterways be worse than inhaling cigarette smoke?

a lot of fishermen smoke....

but I also don't smoke.

Yes, it's a problem with most fishermen - addiction - Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

Fishing, Cold Beer, Cancer sticks, Opposite Sex, Fast Cars, Fast Boats

[luderick -angler]

No matter what is aid about the river yes its polluted and the list Century Batteries, Enfield Rail yards you name it there sbee nan industry the sewage spill in the late 80's resulting in mass fish kills, the AGL spill up stream at Enfield, i can tell ypou thoughit is healthier as there a re 100 percent more mangroves than when iwas a kid and you see all species of fish now not just mullet!

As we all know where has the fish been and for how long?

Exercise your own discretion but definately use the river to hone your skills when it fishes well.

[Jewhunter]

I smoke & I still wouldn't eat a fish out of the Cooks.

Not only would they give you diseases that we haven't discovered yet , they would taste crap anyway.

Cheers,

Grant.