Sydney Harbour DPI dietary advice

[Mike89]

I thought it might be useful to post up this link to the NSW DPI dietary advice on eating fish taken from Sydney Harbour after a discussion of the topic in one of the reports.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/fishing-skills/fishing-in-sydney-harbour

Useful tables showing what quantities of different species are suitable to eat when taken in Sydney Harbour.

[Sea Ranger]

Truly depressing reading,,   I like the section on  What is the government doing about it??    lol the answer is to issue pamplets

[savit]

Thanks Mike. Interesting reading:

- So, once the fish passed the bridge to Pier 2 it should not be eaten.

- East Harbour bridge side: Bream's  amount for safe eating  - only 150g / month while Flathead - 1800g / month (12 times more).  Just wondering why?

[blackfish angler]

Thank you for that interesting  reading all fisherman should take a look Mike .

[takethebait]

On 5 December 2016 at 6:58 PM, savit said:

- East Harbour bridge side: Bream's  amount for safe eating  - only 150g / month while Flathead - 1800g / month (12 times more).  Just wondering why?

I've often wondered the same thing so I read through the referenced report (https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/documents/FINAL FSANZ revised RA Dioxins Sydney Harbour seafood March 2007.pdf)

If I've read it correctly (from table 1 of the report) the limits have been set directly on lab testing of sample fish and the (3) flathead samples had significantly less average concentration than the (15) bream samples.  The numbers aren't based on fish diet or behavior.

Maybe the flathead just don't feed as much in the upper harbour where the muds are? But even those flathead caught west of the bridge were lower than the bream east of the bridge.  

While it's a thorough report, for such a popular recreation it's a shame that there wasn't more funding for a few more samples!

Edited December 6, 2016 by takethebait

[Burger]

Well, Table 1 in that report makes interesting reading . . .

From a statistical anaylsis point of view they are some pretty small sample sizes and no std deviation results are listed.

A sample size of 33 prawns?? and 7 flathead? Any statisticain worth his salt would laugh at figures like that!

No details about where the fish were taken from that I could see either.

Intererstingly, the fish showing higher figures like Sea Mullet, Silver Biddie and yellowtail scad I would imagine are eaten far less than say flathead or bream. That would skew the figure upwards.

Not saying I would be disregarding the figures and be scoffing Seafood from west of the bridge, however in my opinion those analysis results are pretty damn bare.

 

[Mike89]

Thanks for your response Burger, it's interesting to get a bit more critical analysis of this from someone who can get behind the numbers a bit more.

As I suggested in the previous topic, this report and these recommendations aren't perfect but are the best we have, and the best policy to ensure that you don't compromise your health is to follow the DPI advice and not consume any seafood caught west of the bridge.

That said, it's your health and your personal choice. If you have looked at the information and decided that a few fish caught west of the bridge won't hurt, I'm not going to criticise you for it (I occasionally take fish from west of the bridge myself!).

Edited December 7, 2016 by Mike89

[Stimo1076]

You could eat them, you will just Glow in the dark...... Pretty sad really.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Stimo1076

[JohnDory]

That is so scary