Anyone fish the Canarsie pier?

[williehookem]

How often would you eat fish caught from that pier?







Casting at own peril: Tainted fish could harm granny's 'angel'

BY Ben Chapman
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Monday, July 6th 2009, 1:35 AM
Maisel/News Mary Sapp of Flatbush, with granddaughter Kiana Simms, 6, fish at Canarsie Pier.




Fishing for answers

Would you eat fish caught in a New York City waterway?





Mary Sapp wouldn't do anything to harm her darling granddaughter, 6-year-old Kiana.
But at least once a week, the Brooklyn woman gives the little girl a serving of striped bass plucked from the polluted waters off the gritty Canarsie Pier.
Sapp says she has no choice.
Rising prices have made it harder for the grandmother to cover her costs. Her disability check from Social Security barely covers the rent and expenses such as school uniforms for Kiana - her "angel baby."
So Sapp, 50, heads to the pier with her fishing equipment, saving about $200 by cooking her catch from May to October.
She could be putting "angel baby" and herself in peril.
State health officials say women of child-bearing age and children under 15 shouldn't eat any fish from local waters. Other adults should limit their intake to a single meal per month of striped bass.
There are no signs warning anglers of any potential health woes in their daily hauls, and Sapp said she had no idea her granddaughter shouldn't eat the fish until a Daily News reporter warned her.
"I do it instead of buying fish at the market," Sapp said. "Now I'm worried. We won't eat the fish any more. They should put a sign up."
In the past year, the number of sustenance fishermen at Canarsie Pier has nearly doubled, said longtime fisherman Kenneth Sampson.
On a cold, rainy day last week, about 50 fishermen were casting from the brick walkway around the pier's parking lot.
"They're fishing for dinner," said Sampson, 46, of Canarsie.
Sampson sells about five bluefish he catches at the pier each week, for $5 apiece. Finding customers is never a problem.
Though he feels bad about selling tainted fish, Sampson said he's having a hard time making ends meet. "I'm struggling too," he said. "You gotta do what you gotta do."


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/07/06/2009-07-06_putting_her_angel_in_danger.html#ixzz0KV3zmFAG& C

[bluesdude71]

God that article beings back memories. I used to fish that place in the early 90's when I went to visit relatives, and used to fish the Rockaways too, where all the Russian immigrants live. You would have about 9 different nationalities down there at the same time. Great times.... fishing wasn't spectacular, but there was always someone who had a fish story. The trash was a problem then, I wonder if it's as bad now?