John McCoy: As WV’s fishing season nears, which fish are safe to eat?
On four pages of West Virginia’s fishing-regulations booklet, anglers can learn how many of the fish they catch are safe to eat and how often it is safe to eat them.
Produced by the state Division of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Public Health, the four pages also spell out which waters are home to fish that might be contaminated by mercury, PCBs and other toxic substances.
Despite all the detail the agencies provide, questions still arise.
“Typically we get calls in spring, when folks really get active and get out there fishing,” said Bret Preston, the DNR’s assistant chief in charge of fisheries. “We also get calls when we make a change in the advisories, which makes sense. People want to learn about the changes, or to clarify what they’ve read.”
It’s been a few years since any substantial changes were made to the advisories, but Preston said that shouldn’t diminish their importance in people’s minds.
“We put those advisories in the regulations booklet so people can make educated decisions about the fish they catch and eat,” he added. “These are advisories, not rules. It’s left up to the individual to
weigh the risks with the benefits.”
The advisories provide general guidelines for waters throughout the Mountain State as well as special guidelines for more heavily polluted waters such as the Kanawha and Ohio rivers. For example, the statewide guidelines recommend no more than two meals a month from channel catfish 17 inches in length or larger. The site-specific guidelines for Wyoming County’s R.D. Bailey Lake recommend no more than six meals a year.
In some instances, the guidelines recommend that certain species of fish not be eaten at all: Carp, channel catfish and suckers from the Pocatalico River tributary known as Flat Fork Creek have been deemed too contaminated with PCBs to be eaten. The same goes for carp, suckers, hybrid striped bass, flathead catfish and channel catfish from the Kanawha River; channel catfish longer than 18 inches from the upper Ohio River; and for carp from the Eastern Panhandle’s Shenandoah River.
Most of the species on the “do not consume” list are bottom feeders. Species that feed heavily on insects, such as sunfish, crappie and trout, are considered less likely to be contaminated. Predatory fish such as bass and walleye generally fall somewhere between.
Preston said the guidelines, as a whole, are there to protect people who are considered most vulnerable to contamination.
“Advisories are intended for folks at highest risk, such as pregnant and nursing women, women who might become pregnant in near future and small children,” he added. “My risk of eating those fish might be different.
“People can also lessen their risk by spacing out their consumption a bit. Instead of having fish a dozen meals in a row, it’s probably a good idea to space those meals out over several days or weeks to reduce the risk of contaminant buildup.”
Portion size also plays a role. Preston said, for example, that the guidelines’ recommended serving size of fish for someone who weighs 51 to 70 pounds is 3 ounces — a chunk roughly the size of a deck of cards. For someone who weighs more than 150 pounds, the suggested serving size increases to 8 ounces. A chart on the advisory pages spells out recommended servings for body weights that range from 20 to 150 pounds.
Preston said that if people read the advisories and have questions related to their own health conditions, they should direct their questions to their personal physicians.
The consumption advisories are located on pages 20-23 of the 2016 West Virginia Fishing Regulations Summary. Copies of the booklet can be downloaded from the DNR website, www.wvdnr.gov, or can be picked up at DNR offices and license agents throughout the state.
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