“I guess they’re abhominable to you”
Aside from looking at this thing and going “that’s a nasty trash-eating bottom feeder that’s probably sucked up heavy metals for 150 years,” you’re correct — the Mt. Sinai covenent is very limited to whom it applies.
Those big river cats live practically forever ... for all I know, some of them are survivors of THE FLOOD. Once they're big enough that the herons can't get them, their only predator is homo sapiens. I'm reluctant to eat big fish out of the Shenandoah, Potomac, and James for the reason you cite: too much metal and PCB contamination. The smaller fish, especially from the uppermost parts of the watershed, are a different matter. Just have to make sure you're fishing above the old industrial areas.