Is it OK to sell contaminated carp to the Chinese?

[Robbien]

n the last day many outlets have covered the plan, touted by Illinois governor Pat Quinn, to reduce the number of Asian carp in area water bodies by promoting the harvesting and export of the fish as food for the Chinese market.

Missing from the discussion, it seems, is acknowledgment that carp are bottom-feeding fish which concentrated contaminants in their flesh. Both Indiana and Illinois have issued advisories warning anglers to restrict consumption of carp because they are contaminated with mercury, PCBs and chlordane.

In Indiana, where an Asian carp was recently caught in Lake Calumet near Chicago, state officials say that carp longer than 25 inches should never be eaten no matter where it is caught, the Indiana Journal Gazette reports.

The risk from eating Group 5 fish once a week, which the state says should never be eaten, is roughly equivalent to 200 chest X-rays a year, according to the report.

There are many contaminants in the water, the report says, but those of biggest concern – and the only ones the state tested for – are mercury and PCBs, because they can build up over time in fish tissue, making bigger, older fish more contaminated.

http://michiganmessenger.com/39713/is-it-ok-to-sell-contaminated-carp-to-the-chinese

Indiana has removed almost all pollution controls for BP's refinery on Lake Michigan so carcinogens flow freely into the lake. Pollution from Tar Sands from Canada that is refined in Indiana is then eaten by carp which is sold to China. Nothing like a global free market society.

[aquart]

1. That's some seriously sick irony going on there.

But my answer has got to be NO. Our best hope for American renewal is to return to being the ones who make and sell the stuff that WON'T kill you. So I think we need to sacrifice a short term profit to a long term goal.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. It would not be worse than a lot of the contaminated crap they sell us...

But, from an ethical point of view, selling contaminated carp is just wrong.

[tularetom]

3. I gotta read these thread titles more carefully

Contaminated crap, sheesh.

[MineralMan]

4. Actually, the asian carp aren't bottom feeders.

They eat plankton-sized stuff, filtering it from the water. So, I'm afraid the argument goes astray from the beginning.

Common carp, which have been in our waters for a long, long time, are primarily vegetarian, and there are few contaminants in their flesh, too, in most areas.

The worst fish for contaminants are the predatory fish, since they concentrate the contaminants from the fish and other critters they eat.

[theoldman]

6. If the carp ate the crap the news media fed us they would all die.

The Asian carp are totally different from the German Carp.

[Robbien]

7. These are not native carp. Funny enough, these are Asian Carp

Asian Carp:
The Asian silver carp were imported into fish farms in Arkansas to control weeds but escaped and are now spreading through the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and all their tributaries. These fish grow to 40 pounds or more and jump high into the air at the sound of a boat motor. That makes them dangerous to boaters but they are also extremely prolific and taking over any waters they invade.


Don't know if that make any difference in their toxicity.

Anyway, vegetation in the Lakes aren't very free of toxins.

[MineralMan]

8. I was talking about the silver carp.

They're filter feeders. They were imported to eat algae in sewer treatment ponds, but escaped. They eat phytoplankton, microscopic plants, by filtering them out of the water, along with some zooplankton. Bighead carp, another species, eats more zooplankton, and was imported for much the same reason as the silver carp. Grass carp were imported to eat larger vegetation, and they're less of a problem, and don't jump out of the water when disturbed. All are unwanted species when they get into the rivers and lakes, though. Just as the common carp is. It was introduced in the 19th century as a food fish, but never really caught on here. They're everywhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_carp

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. Sure. They sell their contaminated crap to us.

[Jamastiene]

9. If I wanted to be an asshole about it, I could say yes.

Count it as payback for all the contaminated crap they've been sending us, for the lead in toys for our children, and especially for poisoning and killing so many of our cats and dogs with their melamine poisoned pet food a couple years ago.

But, no, it's not right to sink to that level. No, it's not right to sell them contaminated food even if they did it to us and didn't even fucking bother to apologize for it after the fact. x(