You can eat fish caught in Hudson for the first time in 50 years – NBC New York
The New York State Department of Health shared updated guidelines on eating the fish you catch on Thursday, and they include a major change for the Hudson River.
For the first time in 50 years, the department says everyone can now eat “fish” from the lower Hudson River, which stretches from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in Catskill to the southern tip of Manhattan.
“For the first time in 50 years, everyone in the family can now eat fish from the lower Hudson River,” said Audrey Van Genechten, one of the state Health Department’s top fish experts.
What is the reason for the change? Lower levels of toxic chemicals known as PCBs, which is shorthand for polychlorobyphenyls.
“PCB levels in some fish have dropped enough that we can now allow families – even women and younger children – to eat some of the fish,” Van Genechten said.
The general population can now eat up to four meals a month of seafood from the lower Hudson River. The state also said anglers should stick to striped bass; Health officials do not recommend eating carp or smallmouth bass.
For some, the idea of eating anything that comes from the Hudson River is enough to give you chills. Just hearing about fish in the Hudson can immediately trigger images of the three-eyed fish from “The Simpsons.”
Health officials say that’s not the case, but they are proposing an additional measure that could provide even more preventative measures.
“If you remove the skin and the fat, you can get rid of 50 percent of the remaining PCBs,” Van Genechten said.
