Font Resize
Toxic mercury prompted the state Wednesday to issue three new fish consumption advisories for Utah.
One new warning advises flat-out: Don't eat wipers -- a white bass-striped bass hybrid -- caught at Newcastle Reservoir in Iron County.
The health department's Christina McNaughton said the wipers had "extremely high" levels, the highest she has seen in the past two years of analyzing fish for mercury.
Other new warnings include one for largemouth bass at Red Fleet Reservoir and another for bluegill at Steinaker Reservoir. Pregnant women and children are advised against consuming any of those fish from the Uinta Basin reservoirs. Adults should limit consumption to two 8-ounce servings per month.
Newcastle Reservoir already had a consumption warning, for pregnant women and children, on rainbow trout.
In all, 1,929 fish from 268 waterways have been tested for mercury in a cooperative effort between the Health Department, the Division of Wildlife Resources and the Utah Division of Water Quality.
Wednesday's three additions bring to 21 the number of contaminated fish warnings now in place.
The advisories are not intended to scare people away from eating fish but to help them choose wisely, state officials say.
A naturally occurring metal, mercury can chemically transform into toxic methyl mercury. In this toxic form, it builds up in the food chain, so larger, fish-eating fish are more likely to accumulate worrisome levels of methyl mercury in their flesh, as are the people who eat the predatory fish.
Women of child-bearing age and children age 14 and under are considered more vulnerable to the harm caused by methyl mercury.
In excess, it causes neurological damage that can result in tremors, memory loss, irritability, low I.Q. and other health problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls 3 parts per million of methyl mercury in fish tissue unhealthy.
The wipers collected for the most recent sample were caught in the spring of 2008 and showed an average return of 1.39 ppm in 10 sampled fish.
"We anticipated that wipers would probably be a problem since mercury bioaccumulates as it goes up the food chain," said Mike Ottenbacher, the DWR's regional aquatics supervisor over Newcastle.
Ottenbacher said there are some anglers who fish Newcastle with the idea of bringing food home, but an already restrictive limit of two wipers daily means most anglers will probably not change their plans to fish the reservoir.
Smallmouth bass, another predatory fish, is also expected to have high levels of mercury. But testing has yet to be done.
This year the state had no funding for testing mercury in fish. The EPA volunteered to do as much testing as it could during its slow winter period, and it provided the 288 test results that went into the latest advisories.
John Whitehead of the state water-quality office noted there is no money for testing this year's fish, despite the high-priority concerns about Newcastle Reservoir smallmouth.
"We're concerned," he said, "but the resources are not there."
Because the results are coming in piecemeal, anglers are advised to check for the state's latest warnings periodically -- on the Web site or through local health departments.
"We are still testing, and we are still finding mercury," said McNaughton of the Health Department. "We are updating these advisories regularly."
Ray Schelble, of Rocky Mountain Anglers, points out that not all fishers know about the advisories.
"I personally don't think the advisories will stop people from going fishing, but we are probably all going to rethink the way we do things as far as eating fish," Schelble said. "Frankly, the biggest issue is informing all anglers about the advisories because there are anglers out there who do fish for the table, some because of necessity."
Utah Fish Advisories »www.fishadvisories.utah.gov.
