Surf Casting Florida
Learn how to catch more fish off of the beach.
Is whiting high in mercury?
The simple answer is no. A whiting (Southern Kingfish) is a great source of healthy lean protein that is very low in mercury. you can very safely eat a few servings of whiting every week without any mercury poisoning worries.
The sad news is that there is mercury just about everywhere in our environment so you cannot avoid it completely. Mercury has been used pumped into the environment from natural and unnatural sources.
The natural source of mercury is volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions spew all kinds of elements from in the earth into the land and water ecosystems around the globe. Coal burning power plants and mining operations are the biggest man made contributors to mercury in the environment.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been catching and consuming fish like whiting for over 40 years. They are one of the tastiest fish in the sea, if you ask me.
In the article below I will show you how to catch these tasty little low mercury containing fish.
Watch the video below and catch more whiting off of the beach.
The species of fish that are usually high in mercury levels are the top of the food chain and longer living species. Things like sharks, swordfish, marlin, tuna, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, grouper, amber jack, tile fish, bluefish…….
Mercury gets into the water and starts at the bottom of the food chain and gradually accumulated in the fish and climbs up the food chain ladder. It gets into the algae and then the plankton that small fish will eat. Then of course the food chain begins as small fish eat the plankton; bigger fish eat the smaller fish and absorb the mercury contained in those fish; Then a bigger fish eats those fish and more mercury accumulates in their bodies and so on and so forth. Then you reach the top of the food chain and there can be dangerous levels of mercury in those fish.
The food and drug agency (FDA) says you should only eat high mercury level containing fish a couple of times a month at most. I stay away from those high mercury level types of fish and stick to the low mercury level types of fish like whiting. Whiting are a fun fish to catch. They are delicious table fare and they have low levels of mercury so you can eat them many times a week if you like.
How do you catch a whiting?
All that you need to catch a whiting is a surf rod and reel with some fishing line on it. That is about a $200 investment if you don’t go overboard and buy the expensive surf fishing gear. Once you have your gear all that you need to do is go to your local bait shop and get some pompano rigs, some 1 to 3 ounce pyramid sinkers and some frozen shrimp, sand fleas or clam strips. Then you are good to go.
Just find yourself a beach and start catching some whiting. There is currently no size limit but it is not worth killing the fish for the fillet on any of them smaller than 10 inches. Let the whiting that are 10 inches or less grow for another year so you can eat them next year when they are 12 or 13 inches long.
Conclusion:
Whiting are a healthy, low mercury level, species of fish. You can eat them often if you want to. They are fun to catch and good to eat so go to the beach and get yourself some.
Invest a couple hundred dollars in your surf fishing gear and you can pay for it with savings on your grocery bill in no time.
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