Are coarse fish safe to eat from English rivers?

[Joonsy]

Yeah I wouldn't worry at all if I was in an unpolluted area, but where I live there are towns and factories etc near by...

It is not only towns and factories that pollute rivers. Some really beautiful crystal clear rivers in beautiful countryside have been polluted through mining. The river Ystwyth in Wales is just one example due to the Cwmystwyth Mines, the river looks idyllic and crystal clear in beautiful scenery but still carries elevated levels of metal pollutants even though the mines have been closed since 1940. If you have any concerns then contact the Environment Agency

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency#org-contacts

 

[garethw]

Lead shot.....wee split lead weights to wrap tight around a fishing line.
Mostly illegal because they were poisoning swans, etc.,

http://www.gofishing.co.uk/Angling-...g-Tips2/Fishing-Charts--Guides/Guide-to-shot/

M

Yeah I remember that.. all those swans killed by the tons of shot left in the water by anglers....Funny how only English swans suffered and all over Europe none of the swans has this insatiable appetite for lead over size 8 but under 1oz.... Wierd hey???
As a kid I hardly ever lost much shot... yet the boats and industry pumped pollutants into our waterways... I always wondered how much shot a swan had to eat to die, compared to how much hydrocarbons it had to drink for the same effet... Never did find out!!!
But now I'm in France.. we all use lead shot as the English used to and guess what the swans don't die!!! wierd hey!! must be an English swan weakness::
cheers
Gareth

 

[Leigh Robinson]

Might be worth mentioning that fish like trout are indicators of clean rivers. They can't handle too polluted rivers. Other fish can.

Course fish from your typical muddy river, taste muddy, chalk stream fish don't.

So if you are fishing muddy rivers there are the unknowns of toxins. If you don't mind that then the fish will be muddy. That's why most people eating from these rivers use a lot of seasoning and flavouring. I have eaten pirch, pike, carp and trout. Best is the trout. carp was muddy. Pirch and pike were very bony.

 

[mrcharly]

So, what about a river like the Ouse in York?

Deep, muddy, mostly slow-flowing. Passes through many miles of farmland, towns etc before reaching York. there are sewage outfalls (theoretically treated) in and downstream of the city. Not much upstream.

I've been told by fishermen that there are very large (over 2m) pike in there. I've seen the remains of fish (floating on surface) that looked huge - body (just behind head) about 8" deep and a good 5" thick. Seen the head of pike where the teeth were terrier-sized.

 

[Billy1]

If you have any concerns then contact the Environment Agency

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency#org-contacts

Would it be possible to just have a sample of your catch tested? Anybody know?

Good ideas I'll try them both

 

[nic a char]

Hugh Fearnley-Whit??? has been known to keep coarse fish alive in a tank with running clean water to cleanse them before eating