Eating the fish you catch on lake Chapala?

Hi, we are visitors and my partner is an avid shore fisherman and we also love to eat fish. He caught a tilapia the other day but didn't keep it as we are concerned about contamination levels.  We read a pretty scary article about a child in 2008 in a city with a river that feeds into this lake who died of arsenic poisoning after a dip in the river to retrieve a soccer ball so that has certainly given us pause. At the same time I hear people saying the lake has been substantially cleaned up since then.
I see some of you mention eating the fish so I am wondering how often you think that is safe and where you get your information from about the recent levels  and types of contamination.  
Thanks for your help.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/10/the-mystery-of-the-lake/

That article explains everything. I have eaten Tilapia from the lake and I know of others who have as well. We fish the shores here regularly. Problem is catching Tilapia big enough for the fry pan. I always get the small ones.......

Been eating locally caught fish from the lake for 35 to 40 years and it hasn't brought me down yet.   Used to be pescado blanco, then mojarra, and now mostly tilapia and carpa.
Fishing and fishermen is what sustained the lively hoods of these villages for years, and still does for some people.

I'll eat the tilapia from the lake but not the farm-raised tilapia imported from China.

I've eaten tilapia and carp from the lake but wouldn't touch the catfish.

I caught about 20 tilapia this morning from the lake. A few of them could have been cleaned for the table but like CanuckBob say, they are generally small.

There's a few guys around Ajijic that sell fresh caught lake fish from wheelbarrows some mornings. The fish are so fresh they're still flipping about in the barrow! They all appear to be carp or tilapia and the locals seem to love them! There's a fish store on Calle Colon, just a few yards south of the caretera where you can purchase the local catch.

I've eaten the tilapia. The carp supposedly have slightly elevated levels of mercury due to their feeding habits so I would be cautious about eating too much - just like eating walleye from Lake Erie.

That article that you read was about the Santiago River that drains FROM Lake Chapala. The contaminants in the river where the boy fell in are from plants in El Salto.

Thanks very much everyone that was very helpful!

Oh, I forgot to ask, I see people talking about fresh water fishing licenses.  We didn't think he needed one for shore fishing in lake Chapala, were we wrong?

You do not need a license (fresh or salt) if you are fishing from shore. A license is only required when fishing from a boat. That goes for anywhere in Mexico.

Whew! Thanks CanuckBob.

We fish off the lower wall on the Ajijic malecon. Usually go once or twice a week around 8:00am.

国の