By Julia Scott, KALW Crosscurrents
Community outreach workers say a growing number of people – often poor Asians and African Americans – are dining out at the piers. It’s an enticing prospect: Aspiring fishermen on local shores can expect salmon, croaker, sturgeon… even the occasional rock crab, all for free.
But there’s a big tradeoff.
“Some of the fish that live in San Francisco Bay have mercury in them,” says Margy Gassel of the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. “Actually,” she clarifies, “most fish have mercury in them – and certain kinds of fish have lots of mercury in them.”
Gassel’s worried that mercury, PCBs and other industrial chemicals could make fishermen sick – and that they won’t know until they’re very sick. “People aren’t going to get obviously sick after eating fish, but the contaminants can build up in their bodies and can cause harm,” Gassel says.
Read or listen to the complete story at KALW Crosscurrents.
