The to-do list for Utah's wildlife and water officials has included testing fish for mercury every year since scientists discovered the Great Salt Lake is a world hot spot for the metal's toxic form.

Since then, the state has advised hunters to avoid eating three types of duck from the lake, and it has issued fish consumption warnings for mercury at 14 spots in Utah streams and reservoirs.

And, while it's suspected that there are more areas of concern, the state's ability to identify mercury trouble spots has been badly hampered by a lack of funds.

This year -- and next -- Utah has no money budgeted for more fish testing.

Environmental officials have been sending batches of about 50 frozen fish a week to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's testing laboratory since December. The agency is doing the work for free, as time allows.

And it will do the same for an estimated 300 fish that wildlife and water officials will collect this year.

"That analysis is the basis for much of what we do," said John Whitehead, who leads the multiagency Utah Mercury Working Group.

Without the data from the state's fishing spots, it's not possible to educate the public about where fish are low-risk for toxic methylmercury and where the risk is higher.

Until this year, the state Health Department performed the test with equipment it bought a few years ago at a cost of $50,000. Doing all the water-quality analysis, including that for mercury, at an outside lab would be as much as $1.4 million a year.

Now the Health Department doesn't have the resources to perform the fish testing.

Thanks to EPA, results should be back at the end of next month from the 289 fish collected last year. New advisories -- assuming there are more -- probably will be out in time for the summer fishing season, Whitehead said.

"It is statistically likely we will see more advisories as we test more water bodies," he said.

The toxic form of mercury, called methylmercury, can build up in the food chain. It can impact the neurological system, affecting thinking, behavior and mental development.

Pregnant and nursing women, babies and children are most vulnerable.

Once the Health Department, the Department of Environmental Quality and the Division of Wildlife work together to assess the testing results, they decide which areas warrant advisories and rely on pamphlets, news media, the Web and other public education outlets to get the word out, including the state's Baby Your Baby Program.

Ed Kent, chairman of the Utah Anglers Coalition, said this outreach approach will have to suffice for now.

"At this point," he said, "I don't know what else can be done."

fahys@sltrib.com