fresh fish...

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree...the cost of living is NOT higher here than in Atlanta. We don't pay additional state taxes on goods and services, we don't have to have two different wardrobes, we don't have to drive as far, gas on St. Croix is $1.69 per gallon at some stations because we have the world's second largest oil refinery, we don't incur heating bills in "winter", we don't incur "winter" period. You get to keep more of the money that you earn. Yes, I have lived in Georgia, California, Texas, Arizona, Washington State, Oklahoma, and Kansas courtesy of the US Army.

However, there is an abundance of fresh fish available at the local fish market, from roadside vendors, from sushi bars, and from the supermarkets.

At many of the roadside vendors, or from the charter fishing boats, the fish is still flopping when you put it in your bag! If it were any fresher...you'd have to eat it underwater!!

Yeah, I've noticed that also. From all reports things cost more on the Islands, but when I'm told the prices by and large they are the same or at least pretty close to what I pay here.

i concur w/native son. so many people complain about the cost of living in the VI. they should try coming up here to philly to live. lots of our money is stolen by city wages tax, an inordinately expensive public transit system, sales tax, heating bills, winter wardrobes, overpriced super markets, etc. plus i'm paying $700 every month to live in a rat hole of an apt.!

while i lived in STJ, i didn't notice the high costs of anything: i wasn't paying sales tax and $3 to ride the bus as i do up here. i actually thought i was getting a break!!

geez....I just wanted some fresh fish! lol

...thanks to you Marty for keeping on subject! 🙂

You can exist on local fish, as some locals do. However, by doing this you may become susceptable to fish poisoning. Ciquetera sp? is a toxin in the fish from warm water areas. It's hard to explain what it is exctly other than it's found in most reef fish. One fish may not affect you at all, but the more you eat, the toxin builds in your body until one day you have had enough and whammo! Fish poisoning. Now, it's not so bad to get, you can shake it in a few days and the symtoms vary. You can't eat fish again for 6 months as the toxin wears off in that time. No kind of fish at all. Even a salmon from Alaska can trigger I am told.
I had it once, took about 3 days to go away and the next week a man from the USDA was at our Rotary meeting talking about it! He told us that every year they come down and try and catch as much fish that they suspect have the toxin, to further study it. He said that in about the 800 pounds of fish they take back to their labs stateside, they can hardly isolate enough to put on a microscope slide to look at or duplicate! That's how small it is! He did however say, the best way to avoid most is not to cook the fish on the bone as we do, as the parts closest to the head and bone are them most toxic, so filet the fish!

Ronnie

Ronnie is right, the poisoning is mostly from reef fish, or fish that eat the reef fish (such as barracuda). I've not had it (and hope I don't get it!! Heard it was awful to have) and I eat fish a lot. I just don't eat reef fish from the South side. It's not as prevalent on the North side (I have been told), but I still shy away from eating a lot of reef fish. Sushi-grade fish, such as tuna, is not typically a reef fish, so you may be just fine. Just ask where the fish was caught, and you can avoid it altogether.

My wife and I were on StX in Oct. I snorkled out and caught a lobster in about 10 feet
of water.

It was great tasting. It weighed about 2 1/2 lbs. Caught off the north side at Carambola.

I feel fine!!!

Nothing wrong with lobsters!! Not that I am aware of, anyway!

ummmm.....lobster....

Is the ciguatera (sp?) fish poisoning a natural toxin that has been around for millenia, or something new caused by some sort of pollution?

Some good info to be found at http://rehablink.com/ciguatera/