News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Connecticut Department
of Public Health
April 18,
2017
Contact:
Maura Downes: (860) 509-7270
CTDPH RELEASES
ANNUAL FISH ADVISORY, “IF I CATCH IT, CAN
I EAT IT?” WITH UPDATED GUIDANCE ON FISH CAUGHT ON THE HOUSATONIC RIVER
Hartford – The Connecticut Department
of Public Health (DPH) today announced the release of the 2017 edition of If
I Catch It, Can I Eat It? A Guide to Safe Eating of Fish Caught in
Connecticut. DPH has updated the
guide in response to new sampling data that has indicated higher levels of fish
contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Housatonic River and
the lakes – Lillinonah, Zoar and Housatonic – that are fed by the river. These PCBs are associated with the former General
Electric Company (GE) transformer manufacturing facility in Pittsfield, MA.
If I Catch It, Can I Eat It?A
Guide to Safe Eating of Fish Caught in Connecticut is available in both English
and Spanish on the DPH website by clicking here.
“The purpose of this DPH guide is to give advice on
how to safely eat fish caught in Connecticut,” said Brian Toal, an
Epidemiologist with DPH’s Environmental Health Section. “Fish are a good source of protein and omega
3 fatty acids, a nutrient thought to help protect people from heart disease and
beneficial to the developing fetus. As a result, DPH recommends that the public
continue to eat fish. However, certain
guidelines should be followed in order to eat fish safely.”
The higher levels of fish contamination may be due
to recent weather events and/or remedial work in the Pittsfield, MA area,
located in the upper part of the Housatonic River watershed. The new data
resulted in more restrictive advice for largemouth and smallmouth bass in Lakes
Lillinonah, Zoar and Housatonic. Pregnant woman and children should not eat
bass from the lakes and others should not eat more than one meal every 2
months. Fish sampling for PCBs in the Housatonic River will continue in future
years and the consumption advisory will be reviewed annually based on that
data.
Both the English and Spanish versions of the guide are
available at all tackle shops, local health departments, and town clerk offices.
The guide also emphasizes store bought fish with a list of “good fish to eat
and fish to limit or avoid.”
The standard advice for fish caught in Connecticut
for high risk groups, like pregnant women and children, is to eat no more than
one meal per month of freshwater fish caught in Connecticut. For all other groups, the advice is to eat no
more than one meal per week of freshwater fish. This standard advice is due to
mercury contamination found in Connecticut freshwater fish. In addition, there
is a guideline that recommends limiting or avoiding striped bass and bluefish caught
in Long Island Sound due to Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) contamination. The
advisory guide also has a listing of the water bodies and species in
Connecticut with specific consumption recommendations.
For more information or to obtain a copy of the
update, please contact Sharee Rusnak at (860) 509-7740 or sharee.rusnak@ct.gov.
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