Salmon Made to Bear Trout

Industrial chemicals raise contaminant levels into range unsafe for eating

(NEWSER) - Industrial chemicals contaminate many species of fish that populate the Great Lakes, making them too hazardous for safe human consumption, says a Canadian conservation group. "The lakes continue to be polluted to such an extent that human health is threatened," says a report released yesterday that lists industrial pollutants such as dioxins, PCBs, and methyl mercury among the contaminants. More»

Former skeptic Josh Ozersky sees benefits to the earth

(NEWSER) - Not even a fish-loving foodie can justify the environmental cost of wild-caught salmon . "If I could, I would only eat wild," writes Josh Ozersky for Time. "But I can't in good conscience." Sure, farmed salmon's "taste is duller, the flesh flabbier, the finish forgettable." But "with wild populations getting wiped out by overfishing" and 90% of ocean life forms predicted to collapse by 2048, there is no other choice. More»

A quarter contaminated beyond EPA safety limit

(AP) - Catch a fish in one of America's streams, and there's a good chance it will have at least trace amounts of mercury. The most comprehensive survey to date from the US Geological Survey tested more than 1,000 fish from nearly 300 streams around the nation—and found mercury in every single one of them. The good news? Only about a quarter had levels exceeding what the EPA says is safe for people eating average amounts of fish. More»

(NEWSER) - "A world of slime without human form": that was how Victor Hugo once described the Seine, the murky, polluted river that divides Paris in two. Yet recent efforts to clean up the river, from skimming the surface to pumping it with oxygen, have led to a resurgent fish population swimming through the French capital. You can even catch a salmon in the middle of town if you're lucky, though the Times of London says eating it might not be the best idea. More»

(NEWSER) - Some couples are unable to conceive because the woman's eggs screen his sperm for DNA quality and give it a thumbs down, the Independent reports. Scientists in Britain and the US have spotted this "lock-and-key" mechanism in which eggs "read" sperm's DNA, most of which is tightly packed inside. If tests are developed, this research could help couples understand their infertility and ensure the success of vitro fertilizations. More»