Raw freshwater fish

[tribalist]

I’m wondering if it’s safe to eat raw freshwater fish if caught from a lake which doesn’t allow motorboats. I’m more interested specifically in panfish like bluegill and crappie as they’re much easier to catch and carry less parasites from what I know. I’m just more worried about the potential toxins. If it’s possible it would be a really easy raw food source for me.

[Rabbi]

@tribalist mercury might be problem

[tribalist]

@Rabbi I read that these smaller panfish like bluegill are actually a lot lower in mercury than larger predatorial fish. The main thing I'm worried about is just potential pollutants in the water I catch them from

[Swansven]

@tribalist fish of this size don't generally bioaccumulate a significant amount of toxins and they have the selenium necessary to block absorption when raw. I would say it's good if you're having trouble sourcing good raw foods.

[Ice]

Hey, I asked myself the same question today. I caught some small crucian carp, about 6 cm long. I wanted to eat them raw, but I hesitated and had a lot of questions. I've only been eating raw food for a few weeks, so I imagine my brain is still a bit rusty. But have you had any updates? Did you end up trying to eat them?

[RuskinPrimal]

Definitely eat it raw

[Ice]

do you try ?

[Vladimir]

OP was worried about parasites, but aren't they what we actually need?

[Vladimir]

@Ice Raw fish is really tasty, I only tried once very close to killing and it was tasty. It was a carp as well

[eatrawmeat]

If the water is clean its fine hard to find though