With fishing and swimming season coming on again in Maine, government agencies warn us that the state’s rivers, lakes and the coastline are so polluted that we shouldn’t eat the fish. Maybe we should also think twice before we let our children go swimming in those waters.

The warnings are meant to protect our children from contamination and pollution. Perhaps we should get the government to ban all fishing and swimming in the state’s rivers and lakes.

Back in the 1960s, a man with a fish cart used to come around selling fresh seafood. I used to buy fresh swordfish steaks at about 99 cents per pound. One day, he told me there was a warning about mercury poisoning. He told me he could get all the frozen fish I wanted. In the early ’70s, I was in a local supermarket. I saw in the showcase fresh swordfish steak for $10.65 per pound. I wondered why freezing and high prices would take the mercury poison out of the fish.

Gordon L. Hardy, Strong

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