Protect Yourself Keep smaller fish for eating. Practicing selective catch-and release can help reduce the amount of contaminants you consume. Besides tasting better, younger, smaller fish tend to be less contaminated than older, larger fish. Eat less contaminated fish. Panfish tend to have fewer contaminants.
Some chemicals build up in large predator fish to a much greater extent than in panfish.
Eat smaller meals of big fish. Try freezing part of your catch and space the meals over time. This will give your body time to eliminate the contaminants. Eat less fried fish. Eat less fried or deep-fat fried fish because frying seals in the chemicals that might be in the fish's fat.