Warnings expand on fish sources

Fri., June 22, 2007

From Staff and Wire Reports The Spokesman-Review

Fish advisories

Existing Washington Department of Health fish consumption advisories for Eastern Washington. Recommendations are based on a precooked serving size of 8 ounces for adults, smaller for children. For a comparison, a can of tuna contains 6 ounces of cooked fish.

“Statewide smallmouth and largemouth bass: Because of mercury contamination, women should eat no more than two meals per month if they are pregnant, might become pregnant or are nursing. Children should be limited to two meals of bass per month.

“Lake Roosevelt walleye: Because of mercury contamination, women should eat no more than two meals per month if they are pregnant, might become pregnant or are nursing. Children also should limited to two meals of walleye per month.

“ Spokane River: Because of lead and PCB contamination, consume no fish taken from Upriver Dam to the Idaho border, and limit consumption to one meal per month of fish taken between Upriver and Nine Mile Falls dams. No additional restrictions on fish taken from Long Lake reservoir besides the statewide bass advisory.

The list is getting shorter for Washington lakes and rivers where anglers can feel comfortable eating as many fish as they like.

For several years, state officials have warned people not to eat any fish from the Spokane Valley portion of the Spokane River, due to high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs.

Other warnings are in place to limit consumption of bass caught anywhere in the state and for walleye from Lake Roosevelt, due to mercury contamination. The Yakima River, Lake Washington, Puget Sound, Lake Chelan and others have their own advisories.

Now, the Washington Department of Health is advising people not to eat mountain whitefish from the final 27 miles of the Wenatchee River due to high levels of PCBs found during a recent state Department of Ecology study.

PCB contamination also was found in fish taken from the Snake, Columbia and Palouse rivers, although new fish-consumption advisories are not expected on those waters.

Sandy Howard, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Ecology, said six species of fish were tested from four spots on the Snake, between Clarkston and the Tri-Cities. The highest concentrations of PCBs – about twice what researchers normally expect to see – were found in fish collected below Lower Monumental Dam.

“What that indicates is this river does have some problems with toxics,” Howard said. “It’s on our radar screen, and the Health Department does have it on their radar screen.”

Although new restrictions aren’t being considered for the Snake, tests there and elsewhere indicate that no one should be eating Northern pikeminnow, a species that used to be called squawfish, the name still used by many fishermen. They are generally considered scrap fish rather than food fish. The government offers a bounty on pikeminnows caught on some portions of the Snake as part of the salmon-restoration effort.

“So we’re not that concerned (about Northern pikeminnows), but we do need to let people know who might be eating them that this is not a good choice,” said Dave McBride, a Department of Health toxicologist.

PCBs, once widely used in products ranging from newspaper ink to hydraulic fluid and house paint, have been banned by the federal government since 1977.