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Is it safe to eat Salmon Jerky caught from Ontario lake?


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Hi all

I just caught some salmon from Ontario Lake (Credit River).

I pan-fried it but was not taste good.  As 2nd option I want to make a salmon jerky using dehydrator.  Is it safe to eat salmon jerky made from Ontario Lake Salmon?

I can eat pen fried Ontario Lake Salmon but I am not so sure about jerky.

 

Thanks.

 

-Max-

(PS; I do not have smoker but I do have a dehydrator.) 

 

Edited by maxk3
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Smart man. Back during the love canal era there was great concern about e.d.b.’s in the lake system. Studies revealed that almost all the toxins in fish were concentrated in the fat of the fish. Smoking them removed enough toxin that made it safe to eat a few of them without concern. Probably wouldn’t want to eat them three times a day though.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

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You're probably safe enough if you don't overdo it, nothing is safe in excess (even water...), but I'd think that dehydrated dying fish would taste like concentrated death. Not on my bucket list.

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  • 1 month later...

Most fishermen here catch their fish in spring and summer and out in the open lake well before they go up the streams to spawn. All the not so nice comments about half dead fish are referring to spawned out dying salmon which are not very good tasting or healthy ,as they are indeed about to die. One ride over the Skyway just south of Hamilton will show you what is being dumped into Lake Ontario by the heavy industry that is concentrated there. That should give you your answer about eating fish out of the lake

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A lot healthier than smoking tobacco or marihuana !

" Rubber on the road " ! No proven health risks from eating fish from Lake Ontario or Lake Erie : I have been eating them for 60 + years ( all the guys I started with on Lake O who liked sausage hamburg etc and did not eat my fish are dead ! Not sure of the connection ) and I remain in great shape ! ( slowing down a bit " Once a king always a king but once a knight is enough !) 

 

 

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Not sure of the benzene analogy ; I wash my hands with Ivory soap  [ no scent ] before starting to fish to decrease my human scent on the lures ! One of my friends would routinely clean his hands with PCBs dies a slow death from lymphoma which he blamed on over work [ he did not have the TIME to fish and would not take mine fish ]

Maybe this thread is over !

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There are all the ifs and buts about eating fish out of the lake that you may or may not look at. I remember all the pictures of carp and catfish with cancerous growths that were caused by pollution. Those poisons are still in the lake,although a lot of it is covered by sedimentation and a lot of it flushed out. Most of us have cleaned up our act,although just the other day I saw a nice, well educated suburban person dump a can of used engine oil in a catch basin in front of his house. My point is.Yes we have cleaned up our act, but it only takes a few loud mouths who are willing to destroy our environment for money and political gain and we will be right back in the era of complete disregard for the world around us .

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4 hours ago, rolmops said:

There are all the ifs and buts about eating fish out of the lake that you may or may not look at. I remember all the pictures of carp and catfish with cancerous growths that were caused by pollution. Those poisons are still in the lake,although a lot of it is covered by sedimentation and a lot of it flushed out. Most of us have cleaned up our act,although just the other day I saw a nice, well educated suburban person dump a can of used engine oil in a catch basin in front of his house. My point is.Yes we have cleaned up our act, but it only takes a few loud mouths who are willing to destroy our environment for money and political gain and we will be right back in the era of complete disregard for the world around us .

That oil dumping should get reported to NYSDEC, or if it was in Monroe County, you could contact Andy Sansone at the MC Department of Environmental Services, he handles illegal discharges for the Stormwater Coalition, and he is very responsive. 

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We owned property over on the Perch River back in the early - mid 80’s and the salmon would congregate at the back end of the Perch River, and we caught a few for the smoker. Hauled those fish up to the Quebec lake we fished. AAHH time for some smoked salmon and some cheese before we hit the rack, Hack spit F’n terrible beyond terrible!! We threw the fish out back were the bears rummage through and the damn bears pushed out of the way to get at the old coffee grounds!!:lol: How terrible does something have to be if the bears wouldn’t eats those zombie fish.:puke::puke:   On the other hand the ones that are silver out of the lake during spring till end of July till middle or even the beginning of August are good not great, but I’m not a fishy, tasing type of fish person. 

Edited by pap
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I think the bottom line to your question is:for the best taste use the silver salmon that aren't spawners (out in the lake) and fillet them without using the areas of the back and belly of the fish or the skin and grey area of the lateral line where the potential contaminants collect. Use a good brine on the portions used. As Gator mentioned anything eaten or drunk in excess is not great for your health, but if prepared and smoked properly non spawning smoked salmon can be "addictive" regardless of where it comes from:) I've never had the jerky so have to pass on responding to that one...

Edited by Sk8man
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