STORE-BOUGHT FISH ARE SAFER TO EAT.

• Position: Brief Article

If you are trying to add more fish to your diet, get most of it from the grocery store, suggests Charlie Santerre, professor of foods and nutrition, Purdue University. West Lafayette, Ind. According to his research, you are less likely to find contaminants in store-bought fillets than in fish pulled from local streams and rivers.

Santerre and researchers from seven other states tested farm-raised fish and crayfish for more than three dozen pesticides, in almost every case, contaminant levels in pond-raised fish were lower than levels of those same pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in wild-caught fish from similar studies. Pond-raised catfish, trout, and crayfish met Food and Drug Administration standards set for PCBs, DDT, chlordane, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene, heptachlor expoxide, and several other pesticides. Because many of the catfish and trout fillets that end up on ice in the grocery store come from farm ponds, Santerre says, you can feel safe when you pick them up at the store.

If you fish for your own supper, however, you'd better...