“It doesn’t matter if it’s contaminated, you have to eat,” says a 40-year old day laborer from Ecuador in a New York Daily News piece about fishing in the waters surrounding New York City.

In tough economic times, people will do whatever it takes to keep their families from going hungry, and for those particularly cash-strapped, fishing seems like a good option. At one pier, it is estimated that the number of fisherman has nearly doubled in just the past year. Unfortunately, some of the fish they’re catching aren’t fit to eat.

According to the Daily News, many species of fish from NYC’s waters haven’t been tested by health officials in the past ten years. Tests conducted on behalf of the paper by an independent lab found high levels of cancer-causing PCBs and mercury in the samples taken from several popular fishing spots.

“These are clearly not fish you should be eating regularly,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, after reviewing the News’ findings. “I would not want to see kids or pregnant women eating these fish, especially the bass, on a regular basis.”

State health advisories warn that women of child-bearing age and children under 15 shouldn’t eat any fish from local waters.

Other adults should limit their intake to a single meal per month of striped bass and bluefish. Winter flounder can be eaten more often, up to once a week.

PCBs and mercury are most dangerous to unborn babies and young children and can cause problems to their developing organs. They also build up in women’s bodies and are passed on through breast milk.

Yet for some, fish from NYC waters has become a steady diet.

In many locations, the danger posed by contaminated fish isn’t posted; where notices are posted, some fisherman refuse to believe them. Others simply can’t afford to do anything else.

The warnings won’t stop Red Hook fisherman Thaddeus Roberts, who plans to keep catching and eating the local striped bass and bluefish.

“People like me can’t afford to buy food because the prices are so high,” said Roberts, 56, a retired electrician on disability. “I fry them up and eat them. Nothing has happened to me yet.”