Fish caught off the coast of Hastings & St Leonards are ‘astonishingly clean’, according to scientists at a New York University.
Doctor Brian Bush at the University at Albany, New York has been analysing pollutants found in fish for the last 25 years. Pollutants such as PCB are found in many manufactured goods and work their way into the food chain.
Doctor Bush decided to test fish caught in Hastings to find out whether they carried the pollutant. Two samples of frozen Hastings Cod and one sample of Dover Sole were flown out to his laboratory for tests. All the samples were found to be ‘astonishingly clean’, - less than 0.1 micrograms of PCB per kilogram in any sample.
This compares to recent studies on Scottish Salmon as well as on ‘upstate’ New York fish. There were 5 micrograms per kilo in the Scottish farmed Salmon, and a massive 100-2000 micrograms per kilogram of fish from upstate New York. The United States Food and Drug Administration Unit recommended limit for human consumption is 2000 micrograms per kilogram.
Councillor Mike Bigg, Cabinet Member responsible for Regeneration and Tourism received the congratulatory letter from Doctor Bush, he said:
I am delighted at the news and I am sure the local fishermen will be too. We are very proud of our local fish and news like this is very reassuring – it just goes to show what an excellent product our fish is. No wonder people travel miles to buy it!!
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This page last updated: 12/07/2001