AR-News: To fish or not to fish? Think twice

[jim robertson]

To fish or not to fish? Think twice
New warnings caution anglers of Willamette River health risks
By BEN JACKLET     Issue date: Tue, Jun 15, 2004
The Tribune
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Some Portlanders would no sooner fish their dinner from the Willamette 
River than they would hunt for wild game in Forest Park.
   Others, like Terry Gallant and Mike Klopfenstein, have been fishing the 
Willamette for years and have no plans to stop now that summer’s returning.
   So how safe is the Willamette for fishing?
   It depends on what you’re catching. The latest data shows that migratory 
fish like spring Chinook salmon are as clean as fish get, while resident 
fish such as small-mouthed bass are often dangerously loaded with 
polychlorinated biphenyls, toxic pesticides, dioxin and other contaminants.
   As for sturgeon, the ancient fish that Gallant and Klopfenstein were 
pursuing on a recent morning on the Willamette, new tests show that they 
also contain some toxins, though at much lower levels than bass, carp and 
other resident fish.
   State and county health officials are issuing an updated fish advisory 
this week and posting new signs along the river warning of the health risks 
of eating fish caught in the Willamette.
   The latest data show that carp contain the most PCBs, at around 2 parts 
per million, while bass have about 1 part per million and bullhead catfish 
contain approximately 0.5 parts per million.
   Based on those levels of PCBs, scientists are recommending that women 
beyond childbearing age and healthy men should eat no more than 8 ounces of 
resident fish from the Willamette per month. Women of childbearing age, 
children and anyone with a weak immune system or thyroid or liver problems 
should avoid eating any carp, bass or catfish from the Willamette, according 
to the health advisory.
   The new warnings follow a massive fish collection effort performed two 
years ago. As part of the Portland harbor Superfund investigation, 
scientists caught about 1,500 fish from the lower Willamette and sent them 
off to labs to be tested for 399 chemicals.
   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency still has not released the 
results from those tests publicly. But David Stone, a toxicologist with the 
state’s health department, confirmed that the fish advisory and the new 
batch of warning signs were a direct result of the Superfund investigation.
   “We already knew (the pollutants) were in the river sediment, but I think 
some people are surprised at how much turned up in the fish,” Stone said.

full story:  http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=24829


"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do," "You've seen one redwood, 
you've seen them all." -- Ronald Reagan

"No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up." -- Lily Tomlin