# Would you eat fish out of the Escambia River?



## Fast Eddy (Feb 28, 2008)

I would like to hear if any of you would or would not eat fish out of the Escambia river. I have heard reports of some species having dangerous levels of toxins or chemicals and wondered what everyone's take on it was. Thanks


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## ButtNekid (Oct 3, 2007)

Hell NO. I wouldn't eat any thing out of Escambia River or Bay. I grew up on the bay in the '60s-70's and saw the short term effects of the stuff that Air Products, Cyanamid, Gulf Power, and Monsanto pumped into the bay. Some of the fish kills were enormous - the chemicals that caused the kills have to still be in the silt on the bottom (the bottom used to be sandy w/grass similar to the sound). The demolition of the I-10 bridge can only be stirring up the nasty doin's.


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

Knowing the companies that have operated and dumped there...

NO...<H1>Contaminants in Fish and Shellfish</H1>

Despite their valuable qualities, fish can pose considerable health risks when contaminated with substances such as metals (e.g., mercury and lead), industrial chemicals (e.g., PCBs) and pesticides (e.g., DDT and dieldrin).

Through increased testing, many of our oceans, lakes and rivers are now known to be surprisingly tainted. As a result, some fish are sufficiently contaminated that Environmental Defense recommends limited or no consumption. (View our Health Alerts chart for adults and children.)


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## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

We lived on the water at the mouth of the river for ten years and ate specks, reds, flounderand hybrids we caught without any adverse effects thus far. Think about it- the stuff you get at the drive through is way worse for you- all that fat. Just my opinion...Mike


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## DeepScreams (Oct 6, 2007)

i 'M [email protected] &@tin fiSSez ouuuuuuuuuuut deemm [email protected] Fer EaRz W!t noz [email protected]


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## De Anza Jig (Jan 16, 2008)

Sure. I used to eat them all the time as a kid (i grew up on Mulat Bayou). My dad used to be a crabber out ther in the 80's. He's seen that bay go up and down. We'vebeenwithout a boat since 2000, and haven't been able to fish there. But since we have been fishing there againseems to be more oysters, more bait, and more birds (even eagles!). All positive signs.

But....I wouldn't eat a lot of them. Hahaha.


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## De Anza Jig (Jan 16, 2008)

Deepscreams, thats funny as hell.


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## BBshot (Oct 2, 2007)

> *ButtNekid (2/27/2008)*Hell NO. I wouldn't eat any thing out of Escambia River or Bay. I grew up on the bay in the '60s-70's and saw the short term effects of the stuff that Air Products, Cyanamid, Gulf Power, and Monsanto pumped into the bay. Some of the fish kills were enormous - the chemicals that caused the kills have to still be in the silt on the bottom (the bottom used to be sandy w/grass similar to the sound). The demolition of the I-10 bridge can only be stirring up the nasty doin's.


 That is a shame.... I could only imagine whatEscambia Baywould be like with sandy bottoms and grass flats.... Its bad enough that the polutants contaminated thebay but also destroyed the live vegitation that helps clean the water.


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## snookboy15 (Oct 28, 2007)

I am new to this area but will put my comment in anyways. If the dumping ended in the 70's, which is what my understanding is, and the majority of the contaminants were PCB's which have a half life of at the most 6 years, then that means in the almost 40 years since the dumplings ended they should be at around 1/64th of there original concentration. This does not take into effect the amount of of the PCB's that flushed away with the tidal flows. Could be wrong but at least it sounded good.


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## gator7_5 (Oct 4, 2007)

just one of about6 local bodies of water I wouldn't eat fish from.Just not worth it when you can catch fish where you get good tidal flow. Look at the PNJ water contaminant evaluations. I eat fish out of the gulf, pcola bay bridge to the gulf, and lower perdido bay to the gulf pretty much it.


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## wrightackle (Oct 29, 2007)

I am with snookboy15 on this one. Fish have tails. They move around. The speckled trout, flounder, red, etc. you catch in the pristine waters around the bay bridge probably wintered in bayou texar or escambia river. I don't attach any credence whatsoever to what the "environmental defense" people say about eating fish. Eat what you want from whatever body of water it comes from.


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## Collard (Oct 23, 2007)

Have grown up eating everything from Escambia River. Including but not limited to.....crawfish, turtle, gator.....oops did I say that?...bream, catfish,bass,(of all kinds) flounder, reds,mullet, and off the land of the Escambia, ****,squirrel,hogs and deer. Never had a complaint or problem except that **** was a might greasy.

Can't wait for the bream beds to start showin' up, and the bass start gettin' more active!


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

I couldn't be any worse for you than smoking or heavy drinking. One important thing to keep in mind is that toxins are stored in body fat. So just keep gaining weight and you won't have anything to worry about, at least not from the toxins in the fish. :letsdrink


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

> *wrightackle (2/28/2008)*I am with snookboy15 on this one. Fish have tails. They move around. The speckled trout, flounder, red, etc. you catch in the pristine waters around the bay bridge probably wintered in bayou texar or escambia river. I don't attach any credence whatsoever to what the "environmental defense" people say about eating fish. Eat what you want from whatever body of water it comes from.


:withstupid

i hear ya, i eat 'em... and i'm normal... well, sorta...:doh


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## seachaser 2400 (Feb 29, 2008)

Hell no


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## Shiznik (Feb 24, 2008)

I grew up in P'cola and lived on Scenic Hwy for many years and we used to be some of the "gill net" guys back in the day. We even would sew two 300'ft nets together and have some of the biggest fish frys in the Panhandle! Then we migrated to P'cola Bch and this was back in the early 80's, I can honestly say that after we started catching out of the sound that Flounder's is located on, Wow! there was a big difference in the quality of the taste! We never went back to the Escambia Bay to get dinner! Lots of fish, but I think they need to start saving some of the cord blood! Kinda like fishing in a mud puddle. Just wait until Ft. Pickens Rd. opens back up or even I think they are talking about setting up a ferry service to access the park. That'll be great!


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