Poison found in harbour fish

[Hoges]

From today's Sun Herald

Poison found in harbour fish

24jan06

COMMERCIAL fishing will be banned in Sydney Harbour from this morning and anglers will be told not to eat their catch after tests found dangerous levels of poisons in marine life.

Tests on bream and other fish species in the harbour found high levels of dioxins -- which can cause cancer and birth defects -- coming from contaminated sites at Homebush Bay.

Full story...
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17916638%255E662,00.html

There goes a lot of enjoyment for many around the harbour!


“According to a new study, 63% of men surveyed said they like to settle an argument by having sex. The other 37% of the men said they would never want to get into an argument with those men”

[Ozwald]

No ban on recreational fishing though - just a requirement to release all fish caught within the harbour.
Not sure how you distinguish between a fish that has just come in through the Heads and one that has been in the harbour long enough to pick up a harmful level of contaminants.
I think a fair amount of the responsibility lies with Union Carbide and their old factory on the Rhodes penisula. I understand the land has been cleaned up but the harbour sediments havent. Safer to leave the sediments alone as any disturbance would result in the re-suspension of significant amounts of dioxins and other contaminants.

[baitchuka]

Hoges...
change all the words from sydney harbour to PPB VIC, The same editoriol will appear after they dredge the bay.
Bracksey wont be premier any more , but his legasy will live on for 50 years......
DAVO...
PS; did ya get my PM......

[roz]

It has just been reported on the national news. People have been advised not to eat fish caught in the harbour.

ABC news tonight.

[baitchuka]

Where were the fish caught that you just bought 2day from the sydney fish mongers?................

[Hoges]

Hoges...
change all the words from sydney harbour to PPB VIC, The same editoriol will appear after they dredge the bay.
Bracksey wont be premier any more , but his legasy will live on for 50 years......
DAVO...
PS; did ya get my PM......

Hi Davo, I am in two minds about the dredging of PPB. Remember the huge mess the scallop boats made of ripping up large areas of the bay?
Thankfully the Bay has recovered and there has been no toxic substances that we know of.
Got your PM and thanks for the offer. Would love to take you up on it once things start to slow down a bit for me.
Regards
Pete

PS: The sooner that schoolteacher Premier goes the better! IMO


“The other day I phoned my local pizza delivery firm and asked for a thin and crusty supreme... They sent me Diana Ross”

[Hoges]

Not good!

Fishing ban could remain for years
By Nick Ralston
24jan06

COMMERCIAL fishing in Sydney Harbour could be forbidden for years because of dangerous levels of dioxins in the water.

The New South Wales Government today imposed an immediate ban on commercial fishing in the harbour after tests revealed dioxin levels in bream and prawns well above World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.

The highest readings were found in the upper areas of the Parramatta River, near the former Homebush Bay industrial site which has been identified as a source of the long-lasting dioxins.

The Government has imposed a three-month ban on commercial fishing in all parts of the harbour before it reassesses the situation.

Continued...
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17926230%255E1702,00.html


“I want to die in my sleep like my granddad not screaming in terror like his passengers”

[DICER]

one the most poisonous toxins known to man.... great!

perhaps the fisherman should be tested as well....

does anyone know what type of dioxins they found ??

[fish2eat]

Three month ban????????

This toxin has probably been in Sydney Harbour fish for at LEAST 40 years, just that they have not previously tested fish for Dioxin. The last of the polluting factories left the area or changed their waste techniques over 10 years ago

[Hoges]

one the most poisonous toxins known to man.... great!

perhaps the fisherman should be tested as well....

does anyone know what type of dioxins they found ??

No but there is an interesting article on dioxins in the fish here...
http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=dioxins



Quote from Arthur C Clarke - "How inappropriate to call this planet 'Earth' when it is clearly 'Ocean'...

[fish2eat]

That article is spooky, it says that farmed Atlantic Salmon should be avoided

So its not just wild caught fish

[Hoges]

Oceans Alive seem to be an eco based site and do I suppose have an agenda. The Atlantic salmon they refer to are Northern hemisphere farmed salmon and wether or not that makes a difference I don't know.

Activist Center
Get involved in the campaign to protect our oceans. Download Oceans Alive flyers, print petitions, and sample letters-to-the-editor.
http://www.oceansalive.org/speak.cfm?subnav=actcenter

Eco Comments

Atlantic salmon are farmed in large-scale, densely stocked netpen facilities. Fish often escape, and can compete for resources, breed with, or spread parasites to wild fish. Salmon farms allow feces, excess feed, and any chemicals used to flow freely into surrounding waters.
Health Comments

Consumption advisory due to PCBs, dioxins and pesticides
Environmental Defense considers this to be a worst choice for the environment. However, if you do purchase this fish, please limit your consumption according to the following advice.

Limit to less than one meal per month.
These advisories are for women ages 18-75, based on a body weight of 144 pounds (65.4 kilograms) and a meal size of 6 ounces (a little more than 1/3 pound) of fish before cooking. For advisories due to mercury, this advice is intended to protect women of childbearing age and errs on the side of safety for older women.
http://www.oceansalive.org/eat.cfm?subnav=fishpage&fish=85

[aussiefool]

On a bit of a side note .. I think it will be a good thing for fish stocks overall as with most waterways the habour is a breeding ground so it would stand to reason that if undersised "BY-CATCH" is not being taken the some may just grow up to be keepers, and as Fish2eat said

Quote "Three month ban????????

This toxin has probably been in Sydney Harbour fish for at LEAST 40 years, just that they have not previously tested fish for Dioxin. The last of the polluting factories left the area or changed their waste techniques over 10 years ago "

[Phoenix]

To me this whole dioxin saga in Sydney harbour is only beginning. I am willing to bet that similar stories will emerge in Melbourn, Brisbane and Perth.

However giving the fish stocks a chance to recover is not a bad thing either. There are those that want to ban fishing tailor in QLD for a year or so to allow the fish stocks to recover.

I'd also warn people about any fishing around Sydney. The pelagics eat smaller fish and therefore inherit the dioxins and poisons from smaller fish. Heavy metals such as mercury are live long.

[DICER]

I don't think that this is a chance for stocks to recover, more likely this is to assess the true state and type of contamination. How did they pick this up in the first place?

The oceans alive site is fairly correct in terms of the pollutants covered by the term dioxin and also how it enters the ecosystem, and what types of tissues are likely to absorb dioxins.

Yeah sure there might be other places around australia. 1974 floods in Brisbane, missing items include drums of.....

[Louis]

I'm currious to know what testing of fish coming from the Brisbane River would show.



Louis

[fish2eat]

Don't think you really ought to know......as mother always said, "what you don't know can't hurt you"

[Louis]

Perhaps your right.

Ignorance is bliss.



Louis

[fish2eat]

Anyway, with the health system in crisis in Qld, the last thing they want is to tell us we are eating toxic fish and start a rush of all the hypochondriacs to hospitals

[rando]

Dioxins can come from bleacing wood pulp for paper!!! how long has APM been discharging into the Pine???? 40 + yrs???

[DICER]

yes for quite some time.- I remember visiting that plant - it's quite a large one.

Not too sure which dioxins/PCBs/furans etc they leach out, but perhaps they have a waste containment or pollution monitoring process there.

[wayne_cook]

what a beautiful govt. tool. get an independant study done, find a problem shut it down. 40 years no studys till now seems sus.
they used divers stats on grey nurse to shut down prime fishing spots.
maybe it's a way of getting rid of pros without a payout.

sceptic :-/

[rando]

Dont forget INCITEC & Pivot (fertilizers) on Aquarium Passage & the brisbane river respectively

[fisher28]

exactly right brrbear.fully agree.