Okay, if the fact that many species of fish are disappearing doesn’t spoil your appetite for them, maybe this will: the levels of mercury are so high in many kinds of fish that the FDA warns against eating them at all.
Rather than mess with “one time a week” or “two times a month,” here’s the list of fish to avoid: king mackerel, swordfish, tilefish, Chilean sea bass, grouper, Spanish mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, catfish, cod, flounder, mussels, shad, sole, squid, trout and whitefish; and go easy on the Atlantic mackerel, crabs and scallops. And don’t even think about black bass, striped bass, bluefish, halibut, lobster, monkfish, black cod, skate or snapper.
And if your environmental sensibility isn’t up to par, just remember that besides killing you with mercury, eating an endangered wild animal like shark (or, actually, now most of the fish on the list) is like chowing down on Grizzly Bear or Bengal Tiger or Giant Panda.
The funny thing is that fish in those fish-fillet sandwiches may be about the healthiest fish you can eat.
Okay, you can always indulge in shrimp, oysters, clams, sardines, anchovies, herring, tilapia, crawfish and whiting. They are mostly safe… for now.
