Bait Sardines=Kitty Food??

I currently feed canned sardines or mackerel about once a week. Mainly because I can't find any fresh seafood for a good price (kind of sad since I live on the coast). But I noticed the other day that they sold sardines and anchovies, as bait, in a local store. Since I was in a rush I just saw the names and prices. I didn't get a chance to inspect them.

They will most likely say not for human consumption. How bad do you think they are? Worth chancing it or not? I will do a little bit of research but does anyone know the difference in human grade fish and bait grade? And anything else you think I should know about bait fish.

I'm predicting a big fat no for this one but I would like to hear some info and opinions if anyone has any.

Thanks

IMO I would not be feeding fish once a week. Maybe once a month as a treat. Stick to more chicken, beef, lamb, etc. and away from the fish. Males are prone to UTI's if they eat too much fish.

The reason bait fish are not for human consumption is that the chemicals they use in the livewells and tanks to keep the fish healthy until they're sold for bait are not FDA or EPA certified.

If I couldn't eat it, I most certainly wouldn't feed it to my cat, either.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO I would not be feeding fish once a week. Maybe once a month as a treat. Stick to more chicken, beef, lamb, etc. and away from the fish. Males are prone to UTI's if they eat too much fish.

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I know the whole thing on why we should try to limit fish as much as we can. UTI's are a bacterial thing (immune system) while Urinary tract crystals are more diet related. A high moisture diet will produce unfavorable conditions for crystals to form. Mine are all on raw.

Originally Posted by LadyLoneWolf

The reason bait fish are not for human consumption is that the chemicals they use in the livewells and tanks to keep the fish healthy until they're sold for bait are not FDA or EPA certified.

If I couldn't eat it, I most certainly wouldn't feed it to my cat, either.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info

Originally Posted by chris10

I know the whole thing on why we should try to limit fish as much as we can. UTI's are a bacterial thing (immune system) while Urinary tract crystals are more diet related. A high moisture diet will produce unfavorable conditions for crystals to form. Mine are all on raw.

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sardines are for an unknown reason better for UTI / crystal cats ... some things defy logic ... NO I would never touch bait fish , not even for bait

I would imagine that they aren't careful about spoilage or freezing them after they have been in the sun for too long.. (=

So with some research I found out that about 1/3 of all seafood comes from fish farms/aquaculture. The most popular aquaculture fish are salmon, shrimp,tilapia, catfish, and mussels. I couldn't really find any info about sardines being aquacultured probably because there is a lot of info stating that numbers in the ocean are plentiful.

A majority of all sardines caught are sold as bait fish, making fish meal products, or fish oil. Only a handful goes to canning or sold fresh.

The big commercial fish boats usually freeze their catch on the boat.

So what makes fresh sardines sold for humans different from bait sardines. There is a good chance that they all come from the same catch. No company is really going out there to catch sardines just for fresh human food, too small of a market to be worth it. They are going to catch as much as they can and sell it off to different people. Just my opinion.

Could possibly be that they are handled different after being sold. Fresh human safe fish will have stricter guidelines than baitfish. Was going to nail that down but the USDA website is a pain to find things.

This was an interesting small project. There is some good news. I went to a store, that I normally don't go to, and found some human grade sardines for an ok price. So I won't be dealing the bait fish anymore. Imo unless there are stricter guidelines I feel they are the same.

Take care.

Good for you researching ... I personally do not consume ANY farmed fish .... but that is me