West Virginia Fish Consumption Advisories

West Virginia Current Fish Advisories

Fish Consumption Advisories Available for 2010

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) has updated the West Virginia Sport Fish Consumption Advisory for 2010. West Virginia DHHR, through an interagency agreement, partners with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Division of Natural Resources (DNR) to develop consumption advisories for fish caught in West Virginia. Fish consumption advisories are reviewed annually and help West Virginia anglers make educated choices about eating the fish they catch. .

Certain West Virginia sport fish have been found to have low levels of chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury, selenium and dioxin. To protect the good health of West Virginians, the West Virginia DHHR offers an advisory for how often these fish can be safely eaten. An advisory is advice, and should not be viewed as law or regulation. It is intended to help anglers and their families make educated choices about: where to fish, what types of fish to eat, how to limit the amount and frequency of fish eaten, and how to prepare and cook fish to reduce contaminants.

This advisory covers only sport fish caught in West Virginia waters. Safety regulations and advisories for fish in the market place are the responsibility of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For more information you can contact the FDA at: http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm110591.htm

The following updated 2010 advisory recommendation is the result of reviewing new and recent fish tissue data. Data collected from lakes and rivers in West Virginia show that a general statewide advisory of sport-caught fish is appropriate. A review of this information indicates that mercury, PCBs, and dioxin are the chemicals of the greatest concern. If you would like more detailed information about these contaminants and the levels measured, consult the DHHR Web Site at http://www.wvdhhr.org/fish.

Changes to the current advisory are as follows:

The specific advisory limiting consumption of channel catfish, all sizes, caught from the Monongahelia River has been removed. The 2010 statewide consumption advisory for Channel Catfish should be followed.

Body weight and meal size are important factors in fish advisories. Use this chart to find the size of meal that corresponds to your body weight. This advisory is designed to keep the amount of chemicals you eat at a safe level.

Meal Sizes
A person weighing between	Should eat no more than this amount per meal
pounds	ounces of precooked fish
20 or less	1.0
21-35	1.5
36-50	2.0
51-70	3.0
71-90	4.0
91-110	5.0
111-130	6.0
131-150	7.0
151 and over	8.0
Remember that 3.0 ounces of precooked fish is about the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of cards
Remember that 1.5 ounces of precooked fish is about one-half the size of the palm of your hand or one-half of a deck of cards

Find the meal advice for the fish you�ve caught. �Do Not Eat� means you should not eat those fish because of higher contamination. The other groups (�One Meal a Week�, �Two meals a Month�, �One Meal a Month�, and �Six Meals a Year�) are advice for how often to eat fish.

Women of childbearing age, children, and people who regularly eat fish are particularly susceptible to contaminants that build up over time. If you fall into one of these categories, you should be especially careful to follow the meal sizes and space fish meals out according to the advisory tables.

Your body can get rid of some contaminants over time. Spacing the meals out helps prevent the contaminants from building up to harmful levels in the body. For example, if the fish you eat is in the �One Meal a Month Group�, wait a month before eating another meal of fish from any restricted category. Occasionally eating fish in quantities slightly greater than the advisories recommend, such as during an annual fishing vacation, should not present a health hazard.

Follow the advice presented in this advisory, noting the differences between the General Advisories for all West Virginia waters and the more restrictive Specific Advisories.

GENERAL ADVISORIES FOR ALL WEST VIRGINIA WATERS
Water Body	Species	Limit your fish meals to:	Contaminants
ALL WEST VIRGINIA WATERS (except where listed in the specific advisories below)	Black Bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spotted) greater than 12" Walleye	1 meal a month	Mercury PCBs
	Saugeye
	White Bass
	Hybrid Striped Bass


	Black Bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spotted) less than 12"	2 meals a month
	Brown Trout
	Channel Catfish greater than 17"
	Flatheat Catfish
	Rock Bass Sauger
	All Suckers
	Channel Catfish less than 17"	1 meal a week
	All Other Species	1 meal a week
	Rainbow Trout	No Limit
		No Limit

More restrictive advisories issued in 2010 affect the following water bodies:

SPECIFIC ADVISORIES - SPECIES NOT LISTED BELOW CAN BE EATEN AS INDICATED IN THE GENERAL ADVISORY

Water Body	Species	Limit your fish meals to:	Contaminants*
BLUESTONE RIVER	Carp	1 meal a month	*PCBs
FISH CREEK	Smallmouth Bass less than 12"	1 meal a month	*Mercury
FLAT FORK CREEK	Carp	Do not eat	*PCBs
	Channel Catfish, all sizes
	Suckers
GREENBRIER RIVER	Smallmouth Bass less than 12"	1 meal a month	*Mercury
KANAWHA RIVER downstream of I-64 bridge in Dunbar including: all backwaters, Armour Creek, Heizer Creek, Manila Creek, Pocatalico River (lower two miles)	Flathead Catfish, all sizes	Do not eat	*Dioxin Mercury PCBs
	Channel Catfish, all sizes
	Carp
	Hybrid Striped Bass
	Suckers
	All other species	1 meal a month
KANAWHA RIVER upstream of I-64 bridge in Dunbar	Channel Catfish less than 17"	2 meals a month	*PCBs
KANAWHA RIVER upstream of I-64 bridge in Dunbar	Channel Catfish less than 17"	2 meals a month	Mercury
LITTLE KANAWHA AND HUGHES RIVER	Sauger	1 meal a month	*Mercury
MIDDLE ISLAND CREEK	Spotted Bass less than 12"	1 meal a month	*Mercury
			PCBs

MOUNT STORM AND UPPER MUD LAKES, PINNACLE CREEK	Follow Advisory Guidelines for Statewide Consumption		Selenium
MOUNT STORM AND UPPER MUD LAKES, PINNACLE CREEK	Follow Advisory Guidelines for Statewide Consumption		Selenium
POTOMAC RIVER AND NORTH BRANCH OF POTOMAC RIVER	All non-game fish	Do not eat	*Dioxin
POTOMAC RIVER AND NORTH BRANCH OF POTOMAC RIVER	All non-game fish	Do not eat	*Dioxin
SOUTH FORK of SOUTH BRANCH of POTOMAC RIVER	Smallmouth Bass less than 12"	1 meal a month	*Mercury
SOUTH FORK of SOUTH BRANCH of POTOMAC RIVER	Sunfish	2 meals a month	*Mercury
OHIO RIVER, entire length in WV	Carp	Do not eat	*PCBs Mercury Dioxin
	Channel Catfish greater than 17"	Do not eat
	Channel Catfish less than 17"	6 meals a year
	Flathead Catfish, all sizes	6 meals a year
	Smallmouth Buffalo	1 meal a month
	Drum	1 meal a month
R. D. BAILEY LAKE	Channel Catfish greater than 17"	6 meals a year	*PCBs
R. D. BAILEY LAKE	Channel Catfish greater than 17"	6 meals a year	*PCBs
SHENANDOAH RIVER	Carp	Do not eat	*PCBs
SHENANDOAH RIVER	Channel Catfish greater than 17"	Do not eat	Mercury
SLEEPY CREEK LAKE	Yellow Bullhead	2 meals a month	*Mercury
SLEEPY CREEK LAKE	Yellow Bullhead	2 meals a month	*Mercury
SUMMERSVILLE LAKE	Flathead all sizes	1 meal a month	*Mercury
SUMMERSVILLE LAKE	Walleye all sizes	6 meals/year	*Mercury
SUTTON LAKE	Black Bass all sizes	1 meal a month	*Mercury
SUTTON LAKE	Black Bass all sizes	1 meal a month	*Mercury

*Contaminant: Meal limits are determined by the chemical with the asterisk. Other listed chemicals would have an advisory at a less restrictive level.

PCBs: Polychlorinated Biphenyls

For further information or the most current advice consult the WV DHHR Web Site at www.wvdhhr.org/fish or call 304-558-2981.

Other contacts:

Consult the WV Division of Natural Resources Web Site at www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/fishing.shtm
or call (304) 558-2771.

Consult the WV Department of Environmental Protection Web Site at www.wvdep.org
or call (304) 926-0495.

Consult the US EPA Web Site at www.epa.gov/ost/fish.