Fish around Tunks Park - safe to eat?

[fishkent]

Hey everyone, I've been watching a few videos and articles and I'm seeing a mixed bag of info about middle harbour. I've always stuck to Port Hacking since I know it's safe to eat the fish there but I'm looking for some options closer to home that I can try with my kayak. 

I assumed it Tunks Park area was safe to eat since it's not west of the bridge, I tried searching and found some old threads that didn't really address it and might be out of date.

Does anyone have any up-to-date info about consuming fish in this area or does the general 150g recommendation apply here - if yes - that doesn't sound like it's "very safe" to eat, which is good enough of an answer for me. 

As for fish types - I'm talking about flathead / bream. 

Thanks 

 

[Little_Flatty]

It varies by species. The 150grams is for bream and a few other species. Mullet have an allowance of only 50g! Flathead and kingfish have an allowance of 1800g. Note however these are total allowances across all species.

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

I had a flathead out of middle harbour on the weekend, I don’t eat enough fish from the harbour to be of concern.

[Fab1]

I’d be worried about all the pesticides you are eating and all the toxins you are breathing than consuming a fish every now and then.We are coping it from everywhere mate.

[bessell1955]

Yes, Fab 1 I agree with you along with all the airborne particles that are about! 

[XD351]

I wonder if the fish have been tested recently ? I would like to know if the dioxin levels have changed as it has been a few decades since they implemented the recommendations.

That being said fish move around ,out of and into an estuary so saying that it only affects fish west of the bridge is in my eyes a bit silly . A bream that started its life up the parramatta river may well be caught at Roseville and visa versa .

I personally believe this was a knee jerk reaction to the Union Carbide pollution findings - possibly to negate any future litigation . 
For well  over 25yrs I ate fish I caught all through Sydney harbour and its tributaries and so did everyone else I knew - we are all still alive and kicking ! In my early 30s through my work I was tested for heavy metals and dioxin levels - all were normal . 
If you listened to every Namby-pamby out there you would starve to death because nearly everything  you eat or drink has some form of pollution or man made chemical in it. 
The decision is really something only you can make for yourself but if I caught a fish in the harbour or any of its tributaries would I eat it ? You betcha I would ! Just stay away from the Mussels , Oysters and maybe mud crabs ☠️☠️
 

[Little_Flatty]

I’m quite fascinated at the variation in the limits. Kingfish and Flathead have an 1800g of monthly consumption quota whilst Bream only have 150g, sea mullet only 50g (no great loss there)! Amazingly, leatherjackets have a 3600g limit! I wonder if it has something to do with the growth rate of the fish - as I understand it a 40cm bream is really quite old - and also the amount of time that a fish spends in a given section of the harbour.

I think 1800-3600g of the right species of fish out of the harbour a month per person is a fairly decent amount. I suspect I don’t eat that much fish a month in total, let alone from the harbour!

Just as another note, the recommendations are for all tidal waterways connected to the harbour. So this would include Middle Harbour. If you choose to follow the guidelines, target Leatherjacket, Flathead and Kings!

[Mike Sydney]

2 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

I’m quite fascinated at the variation in the limits. Kingfish and Flathead have an 1800g of monthly consumption quota whilst Bream only have 150g, sea mullet only 50g (no great loss there)! Amazingly, leatherjackets have a 3600g limit! I wonder if it has something to do with the growth rate of the fish - as I understand it a 40cm bream is really quite old - and also the amount of time that a fish spends in a given section of the harbour.

I think it’s the latter Mike - 

“ Mobile species had elevated concentrations throughout Sydney Harbour whereas accumulation in species likely to move less widely was dependent on the distance they were caught from the point source. This large scale study on multiple species of recreationally caught seafood resulted in the implementation of human consumption advisories for recreational fishing based on individual species and distance from point source.”

from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314717858_Levels_of_PCDDFs_and_dioxin-like_PCBs_in_seafood_from_Sydney_Harbour_Australia

 

[XD351]

I always thought it might be the main food source- bream do eat a lot of mussels ,oysters and prawns . Mussels and oysters filter out the silt which contains high levels of dioxins . The strange one to me is the leatherjacket as they also feed on barnacles and just about anything else they can fit in their gob . mullet probably eat the microscopic critters that live in the mud  and weed so they may have elevated dioxin levels because of this ?

 

[Mike Sydney]

7 hours ago, XD351 said:

If you listened to every Namby-pamby out there you would starve to death because nearly everything  you eat or drink has some form of pollution or man made chemical in it. 
The decision is really something only you can make for yourself
 

Yes I agree. I see they found 75% of wild fish in NZ contain microplastics, which is the latest type of pollution attracting health concerns in food. Who’s to say, the fish we consider safe eating today won’t be considered unsafe in a few  years?

as for the dioxin level changes, from what I read it didn’t in ten years. They did samples in 2005, then cleaned up Homebush Bay 2008-2010 removing 75% of the dioxins at that site apparently on the eastern shore, an 800m x 100m stretch being dug up and removed. But the dioxins had been found 10km upstream and downstream to Iron Cove, too big to clear it all.
Some more samples in 2016  found no change in the levels found in fish. The theory being it stays toxic until the sediment layer is buried too deep to eat in decades to come.

 

[Green Hornet]

2 hours ago, XD351 said:

I always thought it might be the main food source- bream do eat a lot of mussels ,oysters and prawns . Mussels and oysters filter out the silt which contains high levels of dioxins . The strange one to me is the leatherjacket as they also feed on barnacles and just about anything else they can fit in their gob . mullet probably eat the microscopic critters that live in the mud  and weed so they may have elevated dioxin levels because of this ?

 

Perhaps its because leatherjackets tend to feed mid water off the pylons and bream down lower off the rocks.

My nephew is a coastal engineer and at the time of the 2000 Olympics had a bit to do with Homebush Bay. He said the silt layer is absolutely loaded with heavy metals and highly toxic. They considered dredging but felt disturbing the silt could cause more problems than cure.