Sport fish contaminated along California's urban coastline

Mercury and PCBs contamination is widespread in sport fish in urban coastal waters across California, though mostly in moderate concentrations, a survey released Thursday by the state Water Board found.

Nineteen percent of the urban coastline sampled by researchers had fish with mercury in such high concentrations that they shouldn’t be eaten by young women and children. Fourteen percent of locations had similarly elevated levels of PCBs.

The findings are part of the largest statewide survey to date of contaminants in sport fish along the California coast. The report was based on the first year of a two-year survey, which examined more than 2,000 fish from threedozen species gathered in 2009 from waters near Los Angeles and San Francisco, including San Francisco Bay.

Researchers said the study highlights the health problem of lingering mercury, a poisonous metal that is found in fish globally, and PCBs, toxic chemicals the United States banned in the 1970s. Both substances continue to pose a risk to people who eat fish caught on the California coast because they can lead to nervous system damage and developmental problems in children and can cause cancer, liver damage and reproductive harm.

“Unfortunately, we're not seeing many areas that are totally clean,” said Jay Davis, a senior scientist for the San Francisco Estuary Institute and lead author of the study. But a catalog of where and in what fish the toxins abound should help anglers make better choices, he said. “With good information, people can reduce their exposure significantly.”

Sharks had some of the highest levels of mercury because of their unusual tendency to accumulate the contaminants in their flesh, researchers said. The most elevated concentrations of the pollutants were found in San Francisco Bay and San Diego Bay.

As for which species is the safest: Southern California anglers can be rest easy catching and eating chub mackerel because it had the lowest levels of contamination in the survey.

The results of the survey were used in part to help craft new fish consumption guidelinesissued earlier this week for anglers in San Francisco Bay -- the first update there by state health officials in 17 years. The advisory identifies shiner perch and other surf perches as unsafe to eat in any quantity and warns young women and children not to eat white sturgeon, striped bass and sharks caught in the bay.

The buildup of metals and other chemicals in fish is such a problem along the Southern California coast that health officials two years ago expanded the number of fish on the "do not eat" list from one to five species because of high levels of PCBs, mercury and the banned pesticide DDT.

Next year the state is expected to release the next portion of the survey: data on fish collected from the less populated central and north coasts. After that, researchers will show test results from fish in rivers and streams.

Related:

New report: Seafood in supermarkets is often mislabeled

On Southland piers, warning that more fish species are tainted

Marina del Rey halibut tournament returns with conservation in mind

--Tony Barboza

Photo: Amateur anglers on a 2008 excursion out of Marina del Rey. Credit: Stefano Paltera / For The Times

Comments

[Marty from Marty's Flying Vegan Review]

So lets get this straight. Fish contain poison which " ... can lead to nervous system damage and developmental problems in children and can cause cancer, liver damage and reproductive harm."

And " ... Southern California anglers can be rest easy catching and eating chub mackerel because it had the lowest levels of contamination in the survey."

This is akin to saying that guns have bullets. Don't shoot yourself too often and if you do shoot yourself, a .22 will do less damage than a 9 millimeter.

Stop eating poison intentionally. There is enough poison in the foods we eat that we don't know about and can't do anything about. There are no longer any fish that are not contaminated and healthy to eat, whether on a consumption list or not.

If you think fresh water fish are the answer a US EPA study found 100% of fish in streams are contaminated with 66% over the limits. http://www.naturalnews.com/028284_fish_mercury.html

Go vegan. It's better for your health, the environment, and of course, the animals.

Marty
Marty's Flying Vegan Review
www.martysnycveggiereview.blogspot.com
@veganpilotmarty

[ElNegrita13]

Tragic!

[Andria Ventura, Clean Water Action]

California does not have coal burning power plants, so except from some plants overseas this is not the primary source of mercury in our state. Much of it, such as in the Delta and San Francisco Bay, is a legacy of the Gold Rush, when mercury was mined and used in gold mining processes and then dumped into our tributaries. However, there are modern sources, including refineries, cement plants, wastewater, and stormwater. The problem is so severe in these waters that much of the solution will be the flowing out to sea of the pollution over the next century or so. What is needed are plans to stop the flow of any new mercury, or PCBs (which were banned years ago, but still contaminate industrial sites from which stormwater flows) from entering our waters, no matter what or how small the source.

[FCEC]

It's important to know the risks associated with consuming contaminated fish and how to identify which fish are on the consumption advisory and which are healthy to eat. Learn more about fish contamination off the Southern California coast and how to protect your health by visiting www.pvsfish.org

[truth to power]

News flash, most ALL fish are now high in toxics!

[Chrissy Scarborough]

I grew up fishing these waters and I'm so sad to read this article. But we know the industries causing the most pollution in the U.S. Coal-fired power plants. About 45 % of all mercury comes from coal-fired power plants. The EPA is proposing to clean those plants up and require them to install pollution controls, but right now they operate with NO MERCURY controls. LA has two giant out of state coal-plants. First thing, to consider is cleaning up their own coal-plants to protect the public.

[lakerbaker]

Very dissapointing......from the state of CA......why were the industries or other sources able to dump all this shtuff in the ocean....and or who allowed the runoff containing any dangerous pollutions or chemicals to enter the beutiful coastal water of CA......very dissapointing.

I fish these waters often.....i could not imagine polluting this place ..... i really cannot understand how people make decisions whether the military, industry, chemical manufacturers, etc....to allow these obviously dangerous chemicals to make it to the ocean....even if it was many years ago....just one look....and you fall in love....how can they hurt a loved one...?????????

[Eric of Reseda]

So, where is all this stuff comign from? San Diego and San Francisco have large military installations. Could they be responsible for these high levels?

And if the fish start suffering the effects of these poisons ont heir central nervous systems, then no doubt their survival is threatened and then how does that effect the food chain, and our fishing industry?

Tell you what, soon, we'll hit critical mass on a lot of this stuff and see RAPID collapse of our fishing & farming industries, and heck, so many other areas crucial to our lives. And for what? Out of control consumption....

[The Baron1]

Considering all the other food we eat that is polluted with toxins what's one more!