Is it safe to eat fish from the Port Charlotte canals??? (income, live)

[ActionMgt]

I hate to sound stupid but my husband and I just started crabbing from our dock a few months ago and have been having fun catching fish and blue crabs from the dock. My only problem is, the water is so dirty and muddy looking, I wonder how safe it is to eat anything out of this brown, murky water? We live at the end of a canal off of Harbor Blvd and 41. I am worried as a few people asked us if it was safe to eat them? And some of the neighbors mentioned that they wouldn't eat anything out of these canals!

[MikMal]

I live on the Ackerman Canal and think nothing of eating what I catch out of it. The one thing I will NOT eat, however, are the oysters that are on the seawalls.

[Messing About]

I eat from the canal and harbor every chance I get and have done so for 8 years.
Remember that the water is often much clearer in a jar than it appears to your eye.
Silty sea bottom reflected off sunlight give a darker than actual appearance.
Sandy bottoms appear much clearer and bluer, such as the area around Gasparilla Pass.
The other factor in our brackish sea water is tannin. Mangroves and other aquatic plant life give tannin compounds from their bark. Dead or dying woods give off excessive tannin.
While it is unpleasant to many eyes and can cause a tea-like temporary staining to your boat hull, it is not unsafe and certainly does not render seafood unsafe.

Enjoy the fresh fish and seafood from our natural resources. I can assure you it is far better for our bodies than ANYTHING in our grocers food case or freezer.

PS- when I make a slight mistake skinning my redfish, snook or trout, dockside, I recover that otherwise wasted meat as a thin slice of sashimi and it goes straight in my mouth. Yuuuuummmy! Also a fun way to freak out your guests. Fish on!

[Harbor Hopper]

^^^ Everything said above. Nothing wrong with the fish & crabs whatsoever. Your water is brackish, as MA mentioned. Mix of salt & fresh water. Winter, without the rains, the water is a bit less brown, but summer, you can't see bottom in 2ft of water! But the fish still taste yummy!

[Seafood Junky]

Other than runoff from yards and some roadways... Most is pretty dilluted...

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by Seafood Junky

Other than runoff from yards and some roadways... Most is pretty dilluted...

Can't get away from that. Anywhere there's water, there will be runoff and street drainage.

[ActionMgt]

Thank you so much, everybody, for making me feel much better about eating our beautiful crabs and fish. It sure does come in handy on a Social Security income to be handed several free meals per month!

[HarborRat]

Other than the facial tics, sudden turrets syndrome and loss of of vision I don't have a any problem eating fish from this canal!

So put all the fish and crabs back for me .

[Messing About]

Would be an tinge resting experiment to, say, take a week and commit to eating only what you catch on artificial lures...no catch = no eat. Could be a great weightless plan, either way. Would also force you to get better at fishing pretty fast!

[Seafood Junky]

I have been hearing great things about the Myan chiclids. My plan is to harvest some next visit and see how it is...

Also Striped Moharra (lots in our canal in the summer/fall) is delicious, and easy to catch...