Five fish in Lake Michigan and its tributaries are now a bit safer to eat, under the new fish consumption advisory issued by the Indiana State Department of Health.

The fish advisory provides the public with guidelines on how much and how often they should eat fish due to known levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury.

For Lake Michigan and its tributaries (except for the Grand Calumet River), the advisory last year recommended against eating eight types of fish at certain sizes. This year, the advisory was improved for five of those fish, as follows:

•Brown trout: at 22 inches or larger, eat one meal per two months. Last year’s advisory suggested that no brown trout larger than 27 inches should be eaten at all.

•Chinook salmon: up to 32 inches, one meal per month; 32 inches or more, one meal every two months. Last year’s advisory suggested eating no chinook larger than 30 inches.

•Lake trout: Do not eat if 27 inches or more. Last year’s advisory suggested not to eat trout if at least 25 inches.

•Lake whitefish: For all sizes, eat once per month. Last year’s advisory suggested not eating lake whitefish larger than 24 inches.

•Steelhead: 22 inches or more, eat once per month. Last year’s advisory suggested not to eat any steelhead at 32 inches or more.

Last year’s advisory not to eat any of the following fish remains in place in this year’s advisory: All carp, channel catfish greater than 18 inches, and silver redhorse greater than 25 inches.

In addition, the public is again urged to avoid eating any fish out of the Grand Calumet River.

The public is cautioned against eating the fish cited above due to known PCB contamination, with lake whitefish and carp also known to have mercury contamination.

The fish advisory is published through the cooperative efforts between the state Department of Health, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Purdue University and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

"We have tried to include everything a person might want to know about eating sport-caught fish in Indiana,” said LaNetta Alexander, environmental epidemiologist at the State Department of Health.

“The advisory is designed to provide people with guidelines on how much and how often they should eat the fish,” Alexander said. “By following the advisory and eating fish in moderation, you help avoid the risk of accumulating contaminants in your body over time and gain the benefits of a protein source that’s low in saturated fats.”

The fish advisories are based on fish tissue sampled by the IDEM, which gathers data on fish during its annual watershed assessment sampling. While mercury and PCBs are the major contaminants that can be present in the tissues of Indiana fish, pesticides and heavy metals can also be present.

Requests for a free copy of the advisory and questions about eating sport-caught fish can be directed to the Indiana State Department of Health, at 317-351-7190, extension 262. Information from the advisory is available online at www.statehealth.in.gov

 (click on “Data and Statistics”). A version that breaks the data down by county will be available online soon.

Posted 7/21/2006