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NEWS
Sydney anglers dioxin with death
Despite multi-lingual warnings, anglers are consuming toxic fish caught west of the Harbour Bridge, experts fearAfter 280 hours monitoring 570 locations on Sydney Harbour, the science is in. Anglers are fishing with gusto west of the Harbour Bridge and many are keeping and cooking the catch with long-term deleterious effects, experts fear.
Dr Luke Hedge from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) told the ABC that a detailed study of how Sydney residents use the harbour has revealed an alarming find.
Hedge looked into where Sydneysiders “drive their boats, where they fish, where they drop their anchors, how many people go to the beach — all these things that make Sydney such a unique place.”
His fieldwork revealed up to 20 boatloads of anglers were fishing Lane Cove River, around Cockatoo Island, with many more casting a line from wharves west of the Harbour Bridge like those at Woolwich, Pyrmont and around Drummoyne.
There is nothing illegal about fishing west of the Harbour Bridge, and some of the best sportsfishing in the whole of harbour exists in the polluted Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, where the deep holes are hotspots for big jewfish.
But the concern is that, despite warnings and signage to the contrary, anglers are catching, keeping and consuming fish likely to have dangerously high levels of dioxins, which are a known carcinogen.
Dioxin and heavy-metal levels from industrial pollution have accumulated in the sediments in the muddy bays west of the Harbour Bridge. Constant ferry services creating a groundswell that erodes the banks and stirs up the toxic sludge.
Fish tissue sampled in areas west of the bridge such as Homebush Bay exceeded health standards. As a result, commercial fishing was been banned in Sydney Harbour in 2006. Experts are now calling for further testing.
Many if not most of the anglers keeping fish to consume west of the Harbour Bridge are new to Australia or have English as a second language.
Recreational fishing in the Harbour has not been banned, but anglers are urged to follow dietary advice on the consumption of seafood from the waterway.
Anglers should practise catch and release wet of the Harbour Bridge. Based on advice from an expert panel, the Government recommends that:
<< No fish or crustaceans caught west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge should be eaten. You should release your catch.
<< For fish caught east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge generally no more than 150 grams per month should be consumed.
<< Testing of popular species has allowed for more accurate dietary advice.
The table above provides advice on the maximum consumption of a single species. The full Sydney Harbour usage study will be released later this year. Hopefully, it's not a precursor to fishing bans and identifying areas to set aside for marine-park usage.
Meantime, SIMS has just released a further damming health report for Sydney Harbour after high levels of microplastic pollution was found in the sediment in Middle Harbour. How about some funding for a fix?
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Written byBoatsales Staff
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