Is it safe to eat fish from the Hudson River?

Women under 50 and children under 15 should not eat any fish from the Hudson River, including striped bass. Women who eat highly contaminated fish and become pregnant may have an increased risk of having children who are slower to develop and learn. Some contaminants may be passed on to infants in mother's milk.



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The upper Hudson River is freshwater through-and-through, with sparkling mountain streams and tributaries that are perfect to lazily drift down. It's also the place to cast a line for some prized fish, including Bass and Trout. The lower river around New York City, however, is a tidal estuary.

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For Your Health- In 1976, the Upper Hudson River was closed to fishing due to extremely high amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish. These levels posed a high risk of possible harmful health effects in humans. Since 1976, the manufacture of PCBs has been banned and their use phased out.

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The Atlantic sturgeon is the largest fish in the Hudson River. Adults are often five to eight feet long.

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The short answer is “Yes!” The long answer is that it depends on when and where. Issues like sewage outflow and algal blooms keep many areas along the Hudson from being swimmable, particularly after rainfall.

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Men over 15 and women over 50 face fewer health risks from some chemicals. For that reason, they can eat up to six crabs a week from the Hudson River and New York City waters. Crabs from the Long Island Sound, Jamaica Bay and the ocean are less contaminated and are a better choice for everyone.

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Seawater pushes into the Hudson and mixes with fresh water, making the river taste slightly salty. This mix of salt and fresh water is called brackish water.

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The Hudson River lacked the necessary spawning and nursery capacity to maintain salmon. The first major tributary, the Mohawk River, entering from the west above Albany, was impassable due to the 70 foot falls at Cohoes.

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Men over 15 and women over 50 can eat up to one, half-pound meal per month of striped bass. See our trimming and skinning tips below for more information on how to reduce PCBs in a fish meal. Women under 50 and children under 15 should not eat any fish from the Hudson River.

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The short answer is “Yes!” The long answer is that it depends on when and where. Issues like sewage outflow and algal blooms keep many areas along the Hudson from being swimmable, particularly after rainfall.

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The Mississippi River This once pristine waterway is perhaps the most polluted in the United States. Part of the problem stems from agriculture. The Mississippi River traverses much of America's heartland, drawing no end of runoff from factory farms. Animal waste isn't the only problem.

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While there are orange individuals in the Hudson, these tend to be easy pickings for predators; one study of the diet of ospreys along the Hudson found that goldfish were a common prey of this fish-eating hawk. Thus the goldfish we catch are more likely to be olive green or brown than orange or gold.

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