Since Marty learned she has elevated “mercury” levels I decided to do a little research on the levels of mercury in the types of fish and shell fish that we most often see in restaurants.

I checked on several websites and surprisingly there was very little disagreement about the mercury content of the various types of fish and shell fish. The easiest website I saw to use is listed below if you want to check out one of your favorites that I did not include.

Here they are – your swimming dinners from LOW to HIGH in Mercury!

LOW:

Arctic Char
Black Sea Bass (not Chilean Sea Bass which is in fact High)
Dover Sole – 90% is taken from the Pacific Ocean off Washington and Oregon – who knew.
Flounder/Sole
Pompano
Salmon*
Yellowtail – Commonly found in Sushi – Not to be confused with Yellow Tail Snapper

Shell Fish – this surprised me so I checked several sites and all Marty’s favs are LOW:
Clams*
Oysters*
Scallops*
Shrimp*

* Particularly Low

MODERATE

Dolphin/Mahimahi
Red Snapper
Yellow Tail Snapper

HIGH

Chilean Sea Bass – By far the most common Sea Bass on menus – not Black Sea Bass
Grouper
Orange Ruffy
Shark
Swordfish
Tuna
Wahoo

In closing let me remind you that this is only ONE of the factors in choosing your entree. Almost all of these fish are lower in fat than just about any beef product and more people die each year from clogged arteries than they do mercury poisoning or the more common mercury imbalance.

As a major health move Marty has decided to restrict herself to fresh and fried shrimp and fried oysters – with the occasional Shrimp and Grits with Butter and Bacon thrown in for extra health. Please don’t call and tell her the stuff they fry her favorite shell fish in is bad for you. She’s focusing on health through low mercury at the moment.

Larry

http://seafood.edf.org/?s_src=ggad&s_subsrc=Seafood-Selector&addl_info=ss_ratings&gclid=CMzG-NzSwbkCFSho7Aod5ngAVg