Eating Fish From A Rockford River Might Be A Bad Idea

Maybe you like to catch fish and eat it, or maybe you just toss it back. When it comes to eating fish from a Rockford river you might want to do the latter.

Truth be told I'm not a fisherman. I'll bait the hook and cast it into the water, but I'm not touching the fish. (I'm a man's man, can't you tell?) But I will eat some fish from time-to-time. However, after reading this I wonder if it's doing harm?

Apparently fish in Illinois rivers should raise some concern for pregnant women, women trying to get pregnant, and kids under 15. You didn't hear it from me, you can thank Rock River Times for this bit of news.

The news paper spoke with Melanie Arnold from the Illinois Public Health Department,

Arnold said tests once again show elevated levels of certain pesticides and chemicals in the water and in the fish.

What could possibly by in Illinois' waters that could cause "too much wild fish" to be bad for us?

“Illinois bodies of water, some of them have pesticides, chemicals, mercury that fish can ingest,” Arnold explained. “When a person eats the fish, they can ingest the materials as well.”

Don't act surprised and shocked by this study. We've all heard the jokes about what is in the Rock River.

• Cars
• Garbage
• Drug paraphernalia
• Boats
• Body fluids
• Body parts
• Bodies

Though there are not facts on any of those items we know what's down there.

According to the study,

That means limits on bass, crappie, walleye, catfish and trout, but not Asian Carp.

Oh, and if you are preggo or want to get pregnant;

Arnold said. “We advise that they eat no more than one meal per week of any predator fish caught in an Illinois body of water.

Go ahead and start adding Illinois fish to the surgeon general's warning label. In the mean time, stick to the packaged fish.