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Six of 10 Willamette fish
contain too much mercury Limit consumption of
smallmouth bass, state officials say
Statesman Journal. Tuesday,
October 4, 2005 BETH CASPER
Salem fisherman Ted Sowers isn't
too worried about a new study that shows high mercury levels
in smallmouth bass.
He never eats them.
"My observation is that the bass
fishing (on the Willamette River) has gotten better and I
see less fish with problems (such as sores on their fins),"
said Sowers, who runs Ted's Bassin' Guide Service.
"But I don't eat any fish from the
Willamette River. I am a big believer in catch-and-release.
All bass fisherman do the same thing."
The study, released Monday by
Willamette Riverkeeper, shows that six of 10 fish caught
near Willamette Falls in July tested above the federal
standard for mercury.
"A lot of different fish
accumulate mercury at different rates," said Art Bass, an
AmeriCorps volunteer for the nonprofit group.
"Especially for the Willamette
watershed, we don't know what rate that is," Bass said. "It
is important to note how fast they are accumulating mercury
and to what extent."
Bass agreed with Sowers about bass
fishing growing in popularity on the Willamette River. He
said that if more people are catching them, more people are
likely to eat them, even if many anglers release the fish.
The Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality also tests Willamette River fish for
mercury.
The levels of mercury found by the
nonprofit Willamette Riverkeeper are not surprising to
members of agency staff, even though their data on
smallmouth bass are limited.
A state pollution report about the
Willamette River that is expected to be released in November
calls for a 26.4 percent reduction for all sources of
mercury in the basin, said Agnes Lut of the state DEQ.
"(This data) basically affirms
that a fish-consumption advisory is probably warranted for
the Willamette River itself," Lut said.
Dave Stone, a public-health
toxicologist for the Oregon Department of Human Services,
said that a fish advisory about mercury has been in place
since 1997 for the Willamette River.
"This is good information for
monitoring, but we already alert people -- especially women,
infants and children -- that bass is in the high category
for mercury," Stone said. "These levels wouldn't change our
advisory."
The study is more proof that
people need to focus on water quality, said Liz Hamilton,
the executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing
Industry Association.
"We all care about our drinking
water, and I think we need to demand accountability from
decision makers in terms of protecting the public's clean
water," she said. |
