Speaking of Catfish - Are Mississippi River Catfish Safe to Eat?

The title says it all. A half-hour of on-line research turned up lots of opinions but little in the way of facts. Evidentially neither the State WL&F or DEQ test or publish recent info regarding the Mississippi River.

What say you? Do you eat them?

In my opinion they are as safe as eating them from anywhere else. You would be surprised of the contaminants that show up in every body of water in the world. The people complaining Mississippi River fish aren't safe will head to the spillway and load up an ice chest. It is the same exact water, but it diverts off the Mississippi about 50 miles North of where I fish the river. They are safe. I would recommend eating fish in moderation as most of them contain harmful substances extracted from the environment.

Safe to eat. Probably yes. The big difference is taste. Catfish from the Mississippi and Amite River are day and night. The meat is gray and white.The farther north up the Mississippi, the fish IS better tasting than below Baton Rouge.

I was brought up to not eat fish South of the Old Bridge in Baton Rouge. My family rarely fished below the bridge and I'm still alive and kicking. Have some distant relatives that have fished around Plaquemine and White Castle as commercial fisherman and its hard to tell the difference unless they are caught by grain elevators. Thats when the fish get nasty.

That's interesting co.mark. I did a lot of on-line research on this. Here are the opinions/belief I found, depending on where the poster lived. (Note: I could find no science supporting any of these views.)

- Don't eat fish below Minneapolis.
- Don't eat fish below St. Louis.
- Don't eat fish below Memphis.
- Don't eat fish below Vicksburg.
- Don't eat fish below Baton Rouge.
- Don't eat fish below Norco.
- Don't eat fish below New Orleans.

I can definitely believe that. I just know that I can't tell the difference in a fish from Natchez or Baton Rouge or Plaquemine. I do know that one that has lived and ate plenty around the Port of Baton Rouge (grain elevators) can have lots of fat and be oily. I do believe it's a matter of who you ask. The same can be said of the catfish in False River. So many people think raw sewage is dumped there and will eat bass but not catfish from there.

I hear about Rockafellow where is it and do they have places to camp is it easy to get lost please give me some info

South of Jennings, LA (between Lake Charles and Lafayette on the coast. Never been there just seen it on maps.

Rockefeller Refuge is just east of Grand Chenier, on Hwy 82. Great for crabbing or casting a net for shrimp, when in season. 25 pound limit on shrimp. Which is about a 5 gallon bucket, give or take.