Results tagged “fishing”

People, throw the fish back in the water. That is what the city is making sure to remind New Yorkers of with new signage going up at fishing spots around town. This comes after the Daily News discovered that old signs had worn away or were non-existent while fishing for food among lower-income New Yorkers is on the rise. The signs warning of high levels of carcinogens such as PCBs and mercury don't sound likely to deter the fishermen though—they tell the paper that contaminated fish beats an empty dinner plate. While Senator Schumer is asking the federal government to update its guidelines on what fish is safe, the mayor has basically said pish posh to all this, that people should "use common sense" when dealing with city waters. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is taking him to task for that, calling the mayor "out of touch" with the low-income fishermen, whom she says "we need to protect." A spokesman from the mayor shot back, "There are actually still a lot of people in government who work on solutions instead of just calling people names."

The New York State Department of Health recently started drawing attention to their Hudson River Fish Advisory Outreach Project, according to FreeWilliamsburg. The site has a photo of a Parks Department sign, taken at the North 5th Street pier behind the Northside Piers development, which actually alludes to the fact that one can eat what they catch from the East River without a trip to the ER. Well, there are some caveats, the sign reads: "Pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and children under 15 years old should not eat fish or eels caught in these waters." Reassuring, no? So what goodies can be hooked in the river? According to NYC Fishing: bass, blues, stripers, snappers and flounder. Well, it's probably better than whatever you'd find in the Gowanus, but maybe not at Prospect Park.

Art by John Blackford and James Fisher, photo courtesy John Barnes.