Can well fish be eaten? An analysis of the food safety of well fish

In many rural areas, there are wells, and sometimes some fish appear in the well water. But even if rural people draw up well fish when fetching water, they will put them back. Why is this? Can well fish be eaten?

1. Well fish generally do not grow large. Although well water and groundwater both contain a large amount of inorganic salts, which is suitable for fish growth, the oxygen content of groundwater is very low, and the temperature of well water is also very low, so the fish grow very slowly. Usually when people see well fish, their body length is only the size of a palm. They do not have as much flesh as sea fish and river fish, and well fish have no worthwhile flesh to eat.

2. To survive, fish all rely on swimming around to find food and spawning grounds. In areas with lush aquatic plants, the fish grow larger and plumper, and the number of fish also increases several times over. But in well water there is very little aquatic plant life, and the fish cannot find suitable spawning grounds, so in the end there can only be a few of them. Therefore, the number of well fish usually does not exceed 10, and there will not be too many. Once they are eaten, the fish are truly gone, so very few people will go after well fish.

3. The fish in the well are actually proof for people to test whether the well water is poisonous. People rely on well water to live, and since well water is used as daily drinking water, its quality is extremely important. Once someone poisons it, it affects more than just one family. If the well fish are lively and jumping around, it means there is no problem with the well water, and everyone can drink it with peace of mind.

If the well fish suddenly become barely alive, or die, this indicates that the well water is mixed with toxic substances, or that the content of some substance is too high, and it must be tested quickly and cannot be drunk. Because well fish have very high requirements for their environment, people who have old wells at home, or people in a village who share several wells, all understand this principle.