It used to be that eating seafood and fish regularly was a pretty safe nutritional bet. Fish was packed with protein, healthy monounsaturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids, all those good things (read more about benefits of fish oil).
Unfortunately, due to our continued poisoning of the environment and the Fukushima power plant meltdown, many fish are now loaded with unsafe levels of mercury and radiation.All fish, every single fish on this planet, have some level of mercury; however, some have much higher levels than others.
Take a look at our list of the top 15 most contaminated fish on the market today. Avoid eating these or eat them in very small quantities, unless you are an expectant mother, in which case, avoid these fish entirely. However, we will list the best fish to eat at the end of this article, too, so keep reading!.
6Spanish Mackerel
This is another mackerel that’s contaminated, and like the King Mackerel, it’s due to its large size. The Atlantic Spanish Mackerel is another migratory fish that goes to the Northern Gulf of Mexico in springtime and returns to south Florida, then the Western Gulf of Mexico in the fall. Even with this migratory pattern, they can be found from the Yucatan of Mexico all the way to the Cape Cod of Massachusetts.
Spanish Mackerel are actually related to tuna. They can grow to three feet in length and because they live more closely to the shores, they can easily become contaminated by mercury that is being released into the ocean via slow moving coastal rivers.
