The one popular question that everyone asks about all these fish shown is: Can you eat them? The question is yes but not all of them are edible. Some examples of certain fish that should such as Bunker (also know as menhaden) and White Perch are not really fit for human consumption. Both fish are known for being oily and very bony. If your willing to eat around the bones then by all means eat these fish otherwise steer clear of them and let them live another day. There is not much meat on them and these fish can be better used as bait. This can be applied to other fish species as well. If you want to eat a fish it depends on the law and your taste preference. Some fish have to reach a certain size and there is has to be a minimum of inches met for them to be kept. Down below is an image of what fish that can be kept based on two things: Size and Limit. Minimum size the size the fish has to be in order to keep. Example is the the first top corner of data talking about All Species of Trout and Salmon: During the regular season up to only 5 fish can be kept for day. However, these fish need to be a size of at least 7 inches minimum. So five fish of seven inches and bigger are allowed to be kept for day. Also, included in this chart is the word Season. Each fish has a designated season for when they are allowed to be kept. If these rules are not followed your fish gear can be taken and a fine will be given to you. Now onto is it healthy to eat these fish. Other fish that are taken from rivers that are major carriers of PCB's are channel catfish. Channel catfish are usually eaten farm raised but some people are not educated about PCB's. These fish in the Delaware are bottom feeders. That means these fish eat whatever is on the bottom of the river. This allows for a incredible source of PCB's. Channel catfish from the Delaware can be eaten but like every other fish: EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Are they healthy to eat???
The answer is that some of them are but some are not. Fish that are healthy to eat would be stocked trout. These fish are farm raised and are usually caught in the first few weeks of stocking. They can be caught in any creek channel that connects to The Delaware River and The Schuylkill River. These trout are not exposed to the mercury and PCB's that can be found in this water their whole life. According to the office of environmental health hazard assessment, "Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a large group of industrial chemicals with a common structure. They are oily liquids or solids, clear to light brown in color, and have no smell or taste. PCBs do not occur naturally in the environment."
PCB's can be hazardous to a woman's health if she is pregnant. According to clearwater.org, a woman exposed to PCBs before and after a pregnancy can have some harmful side effects. Some of these effects are motor skill problems, short term memory, and other neurological problems. Also, the environmental protection agency says that being exposed too to much PCBS calls for an increased cancer risk as high as 1 in 2500 for people that eat certain species of fish.