[F.J. Mitchell]

So we are to pretend that had man not found where nature stashed all that Mercury in the earth, Natural flow from rain run off and the channels that rivers carve through hill and dell, would never have unsurfaced this menace to fish and man?

HORSE HOCKY!!!!!!!

[Arthalion]

No, it just wouldn't have been released in such high concentrations over such a short period of time. Mercury in the environment is perfectly natural. The mercury heavy runoff from the ruins of thousands of old mines isn't.

Personally, here's how I deal with it: 1) Eat nothing from the S.F. Bay. Even if I weren't concerned about mercury, the rest of the crap (literally) that the surrounding cities dump into that water makes anything living in it unsuitable for eating. 2) In the valley and gold country, don't eat fish that hang out on the bottom. ANYBODY who eats a California catfish is insane, stupid, or suicidal. 3) The best fishing in California is in the high Sierra. Not only are there a lot more of them, but they're well above the old mines and the water is almost completely unpolluted.