Why we have Advisories

Fishing is fun and fish are an important part of a healthy diet. Fish contain high quality protein, essential nutrients, healthy fish oils, and are low in saturated fat. However, some fish contain chemicals at levels that may be harmful to health.

To help people make healthier choices about which fish to eat, the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) issues advice about eating sportfish (fish you catch). People can get the health benefits of fish and reduce their exposures to chemicals, or contaminants, by following the NYS DOH advice. The advisories tell people which fish to avoid and how to reduce their exposures to contaminants in the fish they do eat.

Fish from fresh waters are more likely to be contaminated than fish from remote marine waters because many fresh waters are close to human activities and contamination sources. Anglers (and others who eat fish caught by friends and family) often eat fish from a limited set of waters because they tend to return to favorite fishing locations. When those fishing locations contain fish with higher contaminant levels, the people who eat them will have higher contaminant exposures.

NYS DOH also issues advice about game, such as snapping turtles and wild waterfowl. Game may also contain chemicals at levels of concern.

Procedures for setting Advisories

In New York State, these advisories are primarily based on information that NYS DEC gathers on contaminant levels in fish and game. NYS DEC collects fish samples each year from different waterbodies. In recent years, NYS DEC has annually collected approximately 2,000 fish from more than 50 locations/waters and analyzed these fish for various contaminants. Sampling focuses on waterbodies with known or suspected contamination, waterbodies susceptible to mercury contamination, popular fishing waters and waters where trends in fish contamination are being monitored. Also, testing focuses on those species that are most likely to be caught and eaten by sport anglers. NYS DEC also tests some game species (e.g., waterfowl, snapping turtles) that accumulate chemical contaminants. - See more at Rockland CCE's Fish Advisory home page.

Types of Advisories

New York is a water-rich state: 2.6 million acres of water on Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Champlain; approximately 0.75 million acres on more than 4,000 smaller lakes; 70,000 miles of streams and rivers in 15 major watersheds; 150 tidal miles of the Hudson River estuary; and 1.1 million acres of marine waters extending three miles from shore. Many species of fish are sought by anglers in these waters. To help anglers choose which fish to keep for food, NYS DOH has two types of health advice:

1. General advice. The general health advisory for sportfish is that people can eat up to four, one-half pound meals a month (which should be spaced out to about a meal a week) of fish from New York State fresh waters and some marine waters near the mouth of the Hudson River. If there is no specific advice for a particular waterbody, follow this general advice.
2. Specific advice. For some waterbodies in New York, NYS DOH issues stricter advice (eat a limited amount or none at all) because contaminant levels in some fish are higher. To be more protective, NYS DOH advises that infants, children under the age of 15 and women under age 50 should not eat any fish from these waterbodies.
   • The information in this booklet will help you find where these waterbodies are located in New York State and the specific advice for what should or should not be eaten. In some cases, enough information is available to issue advisories based on the length of the fish. Older (larger) fish are often more contaminated than younger (smaller) fish.
   • There is also specific advice for certain regions. For example, some fish from the Adirondack and Catskill Mountain regions have been shown to have higher levels of mercury in their flesh than similar fish from other regions in the state.

- See more at: http://rocklandcce.org/fish-advisory#sthash.h9xlovAX.dpuf

Last updated June 16, 2022