Probably for striped bass so there’s a limited window when you’ll see them. Should be showing up soon when the bass follow the alewives up the rivers.

I never knew that was a superfund site. Was that on both sides of the dam?

Having kayaked the length of the malden river that doesn't surprise me at all

Oooo. I'll keep an eye out. I like that they might be harbingers of spring.

Mostly feel bad that Encore might have taken away their special spot.

Also a lot of catch and release. I mean honestly, if you're eating anything other than stocked trout in the waters of all of New England, you're poisoning yourself. There isn't a fish in any body of water in the US that isn't toxic.

Oh, don't know for sure it qualified as a legit superfund, that was me being dramatic, but I know it wasn't good and I thought that was part of the reason for letting encore develop, that they shouldered the burden of cleaning it up.

I remember those guys! They used to BBQ fish over there by repurposing big metal barrels 😬

These days, I see more folks fishing on the Assembly/Draw 7 Park side, but I think the cops would be quick to stop any BBQs.

Ah OK, that's good at least

It was a few years ago but the water didn't seem too bad at all until you went up the malden river. So strange seeing a "river" that is completely stagnant and full of garbage

Their families wonder about them too and what they could be doing if they had survived.

Fishing fine…eating your catch yikes!

They all live in the Marvel Multiverse now.

Are they Namor's minions?

They’re on the other side of the river

One of them grew Attuma.

Dunno why you were downvoted this is correct. Some like 90% of our water bodies have been polluted / PFAs in them. Eating a single fish can be like eating up a months worth of forever chemicals.

Probably moved on to the Neponset before it gets cleaned up.

You weren’t being dramatic. It wasn’t technically a superfund site but it was really bad for a long time.

Imagine other cities letting property that close to Boston lay fallow.

One of the reasons I wanted encore to go there was the clean up

You can time striper season in the bays and harbors to when the water warms up to 55-65 degrees, so it's best in mid spring and mid fall. I have more experience with this in Narragansett Bay than the Mystic or Boston Harbor though.

If it was toxic why would they fish on the site unless they want to kill themselves from whatever it was in the fish if any.

Nobody keeps fish from there.

To everyone commenting about eating your catch: fish caught in Boston harbor is and was completely safe to eat. Even caught in front of encore. For two reasons:

• The water is tidal, and harmful chemicals leaching from the ground get diluted out into the ocean really quickly. The day lily tidal swing in front of encore is 9-12 ft.

• The fish being targeted there (mostly striped bass, sometimes bluefish, mackerel) spend very little time of their lives in the inner harbor waters and don’t accumulate toxins. They migrate up and down the coast and follow their bait into the harbor during the short summer season. Their bait (bunker, mackerel, pollock, etc) also does not spend their lives in these waters.

Pretty sure that folks commenting here either don’t eat fish at all, or buy farm-raised tilapia and salmon. Fun fact is that farm-raised fish is much more disgusting (bacteria, antibiotics, hormones, parasites) than any Boston harbor-caught wild fish you can get your hands on.

Some people don't know or don't care. For reference popular mechanics used to advocate pouring motor oil into a small pit lined with sand in your back yard. Some people just don't gaf

They're in the park behind Ass Square. Sometimes with lobster traps.

> The water is tidal, and harmful chemicals leaching from the ground get diluted out into the ocean really quickly. The day lily tidal swing in front of encore is 9-12 ft.

This was the argument for dumping sewage into Boston harbor for over 100 years. It doesn't work nearly as neatly as you are making it out to.

The land Encore and Gateway Mall is built on was a Monsanto Chemical plant for decades.

https://imgflip.com/i/7gkvb9

1. Catch Fish

2. Eat Fish

3. Get sick from eating fish

4. Sue someone

5. PROFIT!!

>popular mechanics used to advocate pouring motor oil into a small pit lined with sand in your back yard

"Back to whence you came!!"

>Eating a single fish can be like eating up a months worth of forever chemicals.

When the aliens pass me up to eat you instead you'll be sorry.

I hope they find PFAs yummy as I’m surely filled with them!

I would like to point you to Buffalo and the numerous waterfront land that is full of toxins due to Bethlehem steel.

Same with Cleveland and other rust belt cities. I think Detroit is in there too

Mystic River Watershed Associations stance on the topic of eating things from the main lower mystic river.

https://youtu.be/Wp5zgGVeRg0

But it's also still a pretty dangerous place for fish due to high temps and low levels of oxygen, water quality is improved but still not great, Historically it was said you could walk across the Mystic on the backs of herrings they were so plentiful, before poorly regulated industrialization hit the region.

https://youtu.be/oCV1swNDFPA

It is advised that striped bass and bluefish are the only fish that should be consumed from the Lower Mystic, and even then should not be consumed by high risk groups.

https://mysticriver.org/fish-advisory

That face when you find out that PFAs are a "superfood" to the alien invaders.

🤣

So out of curiosity, do you eat any fish or avoid it entirely?

I wish I could - I live in the northeast and it sucks but I know better. Gotta remember the industrial revolution started here, so most of our waterways are fucked. That said, the fishing is still good - just can't eat it.

If you watched the construction they had to bring in a shit load of equipment to do remediation work when they disturbed the soil.

Given the choice of a festering plot of toxins vs a casino that paid to remediate the site I’d think the casino was the better choice.

I live in the northeast too. Hard to imagine giving up sushi, swordfish, salmon, all of which I love. But maybe I should. Then again it is hard to determine what food sources aren't rife with PFAs.

It’s certainly better than it was. We stopped flounder fishing when I was a kid because they kept having huge tumors. Still wouldn’t take any from around Encore

Believe me I know. I used to live in Pittsburgh, which is better off than a lot of former rust belt cities. And did environmental law while there. That's why I said close to Boston not the water although that's the bigger attraction.

But I grew up in Everett and lived there now. I know some people who worked for Wynn during the cleanup. And that area was horrific.

They do it off the Merdian Street bridge too

I still see some people fishing in the mystic behind encore next to the assembly row

Those are not the common catch; but it’s funny people don’t wanna believe New England waters are fucked. Yes folks we’ve done a lot to clean them up, but how can you quantify a century of dumping polluted in the river; believe what ever y’all want lol

Don’t forget about Alaska! Alaskan salmon fishing is highly regulated and some of the highest quality fish in the world

I'm not implying the waters are clean at all

They fish on the Assembly side now and sometimes are assholes and leave fishing line and bait lying around 🤬. My dog managed to grab a bundle of fishing wire and bait before we could see it. Thankfully no hook and the ER vet could make her vomit it back up with no harm.

Most of them are fine and harmless enough but some are real assholes who clearly don’t care about littering or any other user of the park.

Depends on what the contaminants were right. Flounder and shellfish would be fucked if it was PCB contamination because those would settle at the river bottom. Most other fish might be fine in that situation

Toxicants, not toxins :-) there’s a difference!

This

There used to be at least one lobster boat that left their traps right at the end of the navy yard piers in Charlestown. I sure hope those didn't make it to market.

Are there any American cities that really do this well? When I compare Boston to a lot of us cities on the preservation of green spaces I feel like it’s not that bad. Charles used to be bad but seems to be in decent shape these days. When I compare Boston to providence waterfront - Boston is quite a bit nicer.

Isn’t that really more true for fresh water (I agree w you on that front). Lower mystic where op is referring to is tidal waters and the fisherman are going for stripers and bluefish which are migrating up and down east coast not hanging around in the river all year.

Aren't we still dumping raw sewage into Boston harbor every time we get more than X number of inches of rain?

Lots of dude fish in the Charles too - the fishermen have a spot on the path near the Kenmore ramp.

I would not eat whatever three-eyed nuclear fish came out of there, I don't give a shit how clean they say it is.

Wtf?! Really??

Some, but not much. There's been a big push for a long time now to eliminate combined sewers.

Maybe I'm not getting enough PFAs?

Arent they still there, on the assembly row side - i use to fish down there when i really wanted to get a line in the water or have some alone time. It was sort of gross but also interesting scene. I would definitely see people keeping fish from there. Also lots of carp in there which are fun on the fly. My mother said growing up Monsanto would let out plumes of smoke and a perfectly sunny day would go dark.

Maybe, I guess I forget to look on that side when I'm crawling by on the commuter rail. I'll try and peep them.

They’re the ones who showed Namor’s lieutenants how to get their whales past the Charles River dam.

thems good eatins

You can eat blue fish and striped bass - never shell fish, never if preggers.

The sauce: https://mysticriver.org/fish-advisory#:~:text=Shellfishing%20is%20not%20allowed%20in%20this%20area.&text=Children%20under%2012%2C%20pregnant%20women,shellfish%20caught%20from%20this%20area.&text=Everyone%20else%20should%20eat%20ONLY%20bluefish%20and%20striped%20bass%20from%20this%20waterbody.

The encore site went back into the 1800s from what I recall. I wasn’t a big fan of a casino so I read the environmental proposal. From what I recall, a hundred years ago, after the site was done with chemicals and had them in surplus they would just steam shovel them into the ground… all the goodies you would never want buried or near water. It is worth a read.

When I was done… I just said.. yep, build a casino. That is the only business that can print money and cover the cost of dealing with that. The only other thing you could build there would be a Treasury building that prints actual money.

These are the special stripers they would catch.

https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Blinky

I never ate the fish but I did spend summers jumping off the Meridian St bridge and down behind the oil tanks that are now gone.

I believe you are correct. I haven’t lived in Everett in 20 years but growing up there between all the factories, Monsanto, and the tanks we knew we were fucked eight ways from Sunday.

I wouldn’t eat ANY shellfish from the harbor. They literally live in the muck that’s settled out from 400 years of pollution.

They’re getting better. Where I live near Uxbridge the blackstone, Mumford, and west rivers were some of the most polluted on earth and you’d never know now. They’ve recovered wonderfully.