A lot of people have asked me over the years
if the fish on Vieques are safe to eat. Their concerns usually
come from what they read on the internet before they get to the
island or what they’ve been told by the locals, mainly the
gringos they meet at Al’s or Duffy’s, who warn them of toxic
fish. This is really unfortunate but there is a bit of truth to
some of these concerns that should be addressed.
So let’s start with what is true. There is a serious sickness
that can be contracted from some fish on Vieques, as well as
other temperate waters, known as ciguatera. Pronounced “sig-wha-TER-ah,”
it’s caused by an accumulation of a poison known as ciguatoxin
in the flesh of larger fish. This comes from algae that grows on
coral and is passed up the food chain from the small reef
dwellers that eat it. Throughout much of the Atlantic and
Caribbean the most notorious carrier of ciguatera is the
barracuda. These fish are so commonly linked with this poisoning
that it is actually illegal to sell commercially or serve
barracuda in restaurants in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. But
ciguatera has also been found in more popular food species such
as grouper and some large snapper.
Ciguatera is actually a neurological poisoning that produces
several unpleasant symptoms. Most people initially feel a
numbness or tingling sensation around their lips or on their
fingers and toes. Sometimes this is followed by a reversal in
temperature sensation. In other words, cold thing feel hot and
hot things feel cold. After that the vomiting and diarrhea
occurs and can last for several days, causing extreme
dehydration.
Unfortunately there is no antidote for ciguatera once it’s
contracted. And even more unfortunate is the fact that there is
no simple method for detecting its presence in fish outside of a
lab. There are a lot of traditional folk methods employed
throughout the world and some are quite bizarre. The most
popular one is to lay a nickel on the flesh and watch if it
changes color. In the Bahamas they simply wait for flies to land
on the fish. If it’s covered with flies it’s safe to eat. (?!)
I’ve even heard of feeding a piece of meat to a cat and watching
for symptoms. None of these methods actually work and simply
cooking the fish also has no effect on the toxin.
Now for some good news: Ciguatera is extremely rare, especially
in places with strict food safety regulations such as the U.S.
and Puerto Rico. I’ve eaten saltwater fish for most of my life,
including the occasional small barracuda, and have never had a
single symptom. I personally know only one friend who contracted
it from a very large grouper caught in the Keys. Ciguatera is
also completely avoidable by simply eating fish that have no
danger of carrying it. These are the pelagic or open ocean
species such as tuna, mahi-mahi, or wahoo. These deep water fish
have practically no chance of accumulating the toxin from their
food supply and are completely safe and delicious, too. Even if
you do choose to order a locally caught reef dweller such as
grouper or snapper, most are usually too small to have enough
ciguatoxin built up to cause any sickness.
The other fish poisoning scare on Vieques comes from the alleged
threat of man-made contamination caused by the fifty year
presence of the U.S. Navy. The internet is still full of
articles about toxins such as depleted uranium and mercury in
our soil and water coming from the former bombing range on the
island’s eastern tip. The majority of these articles are either
highly exaggerated or completely false. Without getting into the
politics involved, a lot of private “studies” were done by
outside entities with the specific intention of scaring the
local population and turning them against the Navy. Just about
every single news story done about the military on Vieques
during the years leading up to their 2003 departure was highly
slanted. At the same time a lot of well known people bought into
this and came to the island simply to get their faces on TV,
giving the anti-Navy side a lot of publicity.
The truth is that there is absolutely no reason for concern
about man-made contamination in the Vieques drinking water, the
food grown in our soil, or the fish caught off our shores. The
bombs detonated on the island’s eastern training range were
entirely conventional, meaning non-nuclear or chemical. The
primary explosive in these bombs was TNT, a nitrogen based
compound very similar to commercial fertilizer. While there were
more toxic components contained in some ordinance, it was of
such trace amounts that it could never contaminate the local
fish population.
Defending the Navy won’t win me any friends on Vieques and I’m
personally glad they left back in 2003 because some of the best
bonefishing in the Caribbean is right there in the old training
site. But it really bothers me when I get a phone call from
potential customers who’d like to come to the island but they
are afraid for the safety of their children, thanks to what
they’ve read on the internet.
For the past six years, tourism has been the engine that’s
driven Vieques forward and I find it really ironic that the
scare tactics used to get rid of the Navy are still at work
poisoning this island’s economic future. So if you’re busy
Googling Vieques in preparation for a trip ignore the negative
articles or read them with a huge dose of skepticism. This is
one of the healthiest and most unspoiled ecosystems in all of
the Caribbean so come on down. And while you’re here, go ahead
and order the seafood paella at Tradewinds.
Capt. Gregg McKee,
WildFly Charters
