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Q: Should you eat fish out of the Hudson?
A: “The answer depends on location, fish species, and who you are,” says John Lipscomb, the patrol-boat captain for Riverkeeper, the nonprofit Hudson River advocacy group.
Location: “In the southern part of the Hudson from the Catskills to New York City, the State Department of Health suggests that eleven species of fish can be eaten once a month by women of non-child-bearing age and men, and says blue crab can be eaten up to six times per week. In the Mid-Hudson region, from Troy to the Catskills, there’s a restriction on all but four species. And way up north, from Troy to Glens Falls, you shouldn’t eat anything.”
Who you are: The DOH recommends that “women of child-bearing age and children under fifteen should not eat Hudson fish.”
Would Lipscomb ever eat fish from the Hudson? “I’ve eaten blue crab, but now I’m a vegetarian, so I dodge the whole mess!”
