Grilled Swordfish

Phatchris

Raichlen will be stealing this Fo Sho ... Great cook....

bcsnave

yeah...looks good...but eating too much might make me a wee bit fat

Big_Green_Craig

nolaegghead said:

I love swordfish.  I would not recommend putting it in a regular rotation because it's typically loaded with mercury.

Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish (1990-2010)

Mercury and Methylmercury Main Page

See also Mercury Concentrations in Fish: FDA Monitoring Program

---

The table is sorted by MERCURY CONCENTRATION MEAN (PPM) from fish with lowest levels of mercury to highest levels of mercury. You may also sort the table by SPECIES in alphabetical order. 

SPECIES	MERCURY CONCENTRATION MEAN (PPM)	MERCURY CONCENTRATION MEDIAN (PPM)	MERCURY CONCENTRATION STDEV (PPM)	MERCURY CONCENTRATION MIN (PPM)	MERCURY CONCENTRATION  MAX (PPM)	NO. OF SAMPLES	SOURCE OF DATA
SCALLOP	0.003	ND	0.007	ND	0.033	39	FDA 1991-2009
SALMON (CANNED) *	0.008	ND	0.017	ND	0.086	34	FDA 1992-2009
CLAM *	0.009	0.002	0.011	ND	0.028	15	FDA 1991-2010
SHRIMP *	0.009	0.001	0.013	ND	0.05	40	FDA 1991-2009
OYSTER	0.012	ND	0.035	ND	0.25	61	FDA 1991-2009
SARDINE	0.013	0.01	0.015	ND	0.083	90	FDA 2002-2010
TILAPIA *	0.013	0.004	0.023	ND	0.084	32	FDA 1991-2008
ANCHOVIES	0.017	0.014	0.015	ND	0.049	14	FDA 2007-2010
SALMON (FRESH/FROZEN) *	0.022	0.015	0.034	ND	0.19	94	FDA 1991-2009
SQUID	0.023	0.016	0.022	ND	0.07	42	FDA 2005-2010
CATFISH	0.025	0.005	0.057	ND	0.314	57	FDA 1991-2010
POLLOCK	0.031	0.003	0.089	ND	0.78	95	FDA 1991-2008
CRAWFISH	0.033	0.035	0.012	ND	0.051	46	FDA 1991 -2007
SHAD AMERICAN	0.045	0.039	0.045	0.013	0.186	13	FDA 2007-2010
MACKEREL ATLANTIC (N.Atlantic)	0.05	N/A	N/A	0.02	0.16	80	NMFS REPORT 1978
MULLET	0.05	0.014	0.078	ND	0.27	20	FDA 1991-2008
WHITING	0.051	0.052	0.03	ND	0.096	13	FDA 1991-2008
HADDOCK (Atlantic)	0.055	0.049	0.033	ND	0.197	50	FDA 1991-2009
FLATFISH [2*]	0.056	0.05	0.045	ND	0.218	71	FDA 1991-2009
BUTTERFISH	0.058	N/A	N/A	ND	0.36	89	NMFS REPORT 1978
CROAKER ATLANTIC (Atlantic)	0.065	0.061	0.05	ND	0.193	57	FDA 2002 - 2009
CRAB [1]	0.065	0.05	0.096	ND	0.61	93	FDA 1991-2009
TROUT (FRESHWATER)	0.071	0.025	0.141	ND	0.678	35	FDA 1991 -2008
HAKE	0.079	0.067	0.064	ND	0.378	49	FDA 1994-2009
JACKSMELT	0.081	0.05	0.103	0.011	0.5	23	FDA 1997-2007
HERRING	0.084	0.048	0.128	ND	0.56	26	FDA 2006-2009
MACKEREL CHUB (Pacific)	0.088	N/A	N/A	0.03	0.19	30	NMFS REPORT 1978
WHITEFISH	0.089	0.067	0.084	ND	0.317	37	FDA 1991-2008
SHEEPSHEAD	0.093	0.088	0.059	ND	0.17	6	FDA 2007 - 2009
LOBSTER (Spiny)	0.093	0.062	0.097	ND	0.27	13	FDA 1991-2005
LOBSTER (NORTHERN / AMERICAN)	0.107	0.086	0.076	ND	0.23	9	FDA 2005-2007
CARP	0.11	0.134	0.099	ND	0.271	14	FDA 1992 - 2007
COD	0.111	0.066	0.152	ND	0.989	115	FDA 1991-2010
PERCH OCEAN *	0.121	0.102	0.125	ND	0.578	31	FDA 1991-2010
TUNA (CANNED, LIGHT)	0.128	0.078	0.135	ND	0.889	551	FDA 1991-2010
SKATE	0.137	N/A	N/A	0.04	0.36	56	NMFS REPORT 1978
BUFFALOFISH	0.137	0.12	0.094	0.032	0.43	17	FDA 1992-2008
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, SKIPJACK)	0.144	0.15	0.119	0.022	0.26	3	FDA 1993 - 2007
TILEFISH (Atlantic)	0.144	0.099	0.122	0.042	0.533	32	FDA 2002-04
PERCH (Freshwater)	0.15	0.146	0.112	ND	0.325	19	FDA 1991-2007
BASS (SALTWATER, BLACK, STRIPED) [3]	0.152	0.084	0.201	ND	0.96	82	FDA 1991-2010
LOBSTER (Species Unknown)	0.166	0.143	0.099	ND	0.451	71	FDA 1991-2008
SNAPPER	0.166	0.113	0.244	ND	1.366	67	FDA 1991-2007
MONKFISH	0.181	0.139	0.075	0.106	0.289	9	FDA 2006-2008
MACKEREL SPANISH (S. Atlantic)	0.182	N/A	N/A	0.05	0.73	43	NMFS REPORT 1978
SCORPIONFISH	0.233	0.181	0.139	0.098	0.456	6	FDA 2007 - 2008
WEAKFISH (SEA TROUT)	0.235	0.157	0.216	0	0.744	46	FDA 1991-2005
HALIBUT	0.241	0.188	0.225	ND	1.52	101	FDA 1992-2009
CROAKER WHITE (Pacific)	0.287	0.28	0.069	0.18	0.41	15	FDA 1997
TUNA (CANNED, ALBACORE)	0.35	0.338	0.128	ND	0.853	451	FDA 1991-2010
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, YELLOWFIN)	0.354	0.311	0.231	0	1.478	231	FDA 1991-2010
BASS CHILEAN	0.354	0.303	0.299	ND	2.18	74	FDA 1994-2010
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, ALBACORE)	0.358	0.36	0.138	ND	0.82	43	FDA 1992-2008
SABLEFISH	0.361	0.265	0.241	0.09	1.052	26	FDA 2004 - 2009
BLUEFISH	0.368	0.305	0.221	0.089	1.452	94	FDA 1991-2009
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, ALL)	0.391	0.34	0.266	0	1.816	420	FDA 1991 - 2010
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, Species Unknown)	0.415	0.339	0.308	0	1.3	120	FDA 1991-2010
GROUPER (ALL SPECIES)	0.448	0.399	0.278	0.006	1.205	53	FDA 1991-2005
MACKEREL SPANISH (Gulf of Mexico)	0.454	N/A	N/A	0.07	1.56	66	NMFS REPORT 1978
MARLIN *	0.485	0.39	0.237	0.1	0.92	16	FDA 1992-1996
ORANGE ROUGHY	0.571	0.562	0.183	0.265	1.12	81	FDA 1991-2009
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, BIGEYE)	0.689	0.56	0.341	0.128	1.816	21	FDA 1991 - 2005
MACKEREL KING	0.73	N/A	N/A	0.23	1.67	213	GULF OF MEXICO REPORT 2000
SHARK	0.979	0.811	0.626	ND	4.54	356	FDA 1990-2007
SWORDFISH	0.995	0.87	0.539	ND	3.22	636	FDA 1990-2010
TILEFISH  (Gulf of Mexico)	1.45	N/A	N/A	0.65	3.73	60	NMFS REPORT 1978

Source of data: FDA 1990-2010 , "National Marine Fisheries Service Survey of Trace Elements in the Fishery Resource" Report 1978, "The Occurrence of Mercury in the Fishery Resources of the Gulf of Mexico" Report 2000

Mercury was measured as Total Mercury except for species (*) when only Methylmercury was analyzed.

ND-mercury concentration below detection level (Level of Detection (LOD)=0.01ppm)
N/A-data not available

†The following species have been removed from the tables:

• Bass (freshwater) – not commercial
• Pickerel – not commercial

‡Standard deviation data generated from data 1990 to 2010.

1Includes: Blue, King, Snow
2Includes: Flounder, Plaice, Sole
3Includes: Sea bass/ Striped Bass/ Rockfish

NOTE: NOTE: On February 8, 2006, technical changes were made to the data that was posted on January 19, 2006. The changes corrected data or more properly characterized the species of fish or shellfish sampled. On October 6, 2014, technical changes were made to allow viewers to review the list in order of mercury levels and in alphabetical order by fish species.

---

Mercury? It's better than what I've been eating. I'll take my chances...

JRWhitee

Wasn't mercury a car from the 70's? Lol, nice cook Craig.

theyolksonyou

I gotta say, I'm in Sarasota this week, which apparently is the publix Capitol of the world. They do have a very nice selection of beef and seafood all behind the glass. Saw some swords early in the week, but passed for sockeye instead. Don't regret that, but man that looks good. 

Ozzie_Isaac

@nolaegghead what/how much mercury is bad for you?  My understanding is the studies linking mercury consumption to fetal brain development from eating ocean going fish were inconvlusive.

Dr. Meyers study from the Seychelles (sp?) islands studied moms who ate something like 12 meals a week of ocean going fish with relativy high mercury levels and up to the age of 9yrs old and found no link between mercury and brain development in kids.

nolaegghead

@Ozzie_Isaac

The benefits from omega fatty acids for brain and cognitive development are measurable in studies.  The fish with the most fatty acids aren't necessarily the fish with the high mercury levels.  Methyl mercury has the opposite effect on neurological development.  Elemental mercury largely passes through your system, but what you find in fish is mostly the methyl mercury - it's fat soluble and bio-accumulates.

There's no doubt that mercury poisoning exists and is detrimental. 

The more you know, like what fish has the most mercury, the more you can moderate your behavior and avoid bio-accumulating mercury and avoiding the health problems that accompany it.

 

Ozzie_Isaac

@nolaegghead

I agree there is mercury poisioning, but the studies of indigenous island dwellers who consume very large amounts of mercury laden deep sea fish have not born out a causal relationship.

Personally, and perhaps more tin foil hat, I would worry about radioactive contamination from the cesium and other isotopes actively being poured into the ocean at Fukushima.

nolaegghead

I'd like to vet your source on the studies of indigenous island dwellers.

The Fukushima radiation is so diluted, I've heard the buzz of paranoia and fear, but the radiation studies, which are very easy to do (our company does rad chemistry) don't bear out that paranoia.

http://chriskresser.com/fukushima-seafood/

Focker

Selenium is the shiz....
http://chriskresser.com/5-reasons-why-concerns-about-mercury-in-fish-are-misguided/

Focker

We both linked Kresser simultaneously.  lol
Since we've had an elementary throwback as of late.
JINX!  Muthafacka!!!!

nolaegghead

Focker said:

Selenium is the shiz....
http://chriskresser.com/5-reasons-why-concerns-about-mercury-in-fish-are-misguided/

I agree with this.

Also, American's eat on average something like 15 pounds of seafood a year.  This is very low compared to other countries.  We should eat more because the benefits outweigh the risks and we don't eat that much, however, there are still some species to avoid or moderate. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Here is the study I was refrencing.  I remember reading it about 12 years ago ...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9728641

Looks like two other similiar and more recent studies show some relationship (roughly -.18 IQ points per ppm in mothers hair sample, but no definitive muscle control impacts) ...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1852694/#!po=7.26496

nolaegghead

Interesting.  I concur with the benefits for prenatal care of eating fish.  The selenium biochemistry makes sense.  Like I said, know what you're eating.  The difference in mercury levels between scallops and tilefish are orders of magnitude.  Also, most seafood eaten is not the worst types.  Shrimp is the most consumed seafood in the US.   The more you know....