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Where Not to Eat the Fish

Mark Stahl / Getty Images

Brian Walters fishes in the Neshannock Creek, April, 2004.


Just in time for Lent, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Fish and Boat Commission, released an updated fish consumption advisory for the state. Harvesting mussels and clams is now forbidden in Pennsylvania. And if you’re out fishing, the DEP recommends eating only one recreationally caught fish meal a week.

“While fish can be part of a healthy, balanced diet, some fish caught in Pennsylvania may contain chemicals of concern, such as mercury and Polychlorinated Biphenyls, or PCBs. These contaminants are found in some waterways because of their use in industry before many environmental regulations existed.”

Here are the updates:
Advisories added due to mercury contamination:

  • French Creek – From the confluence of Mill Creek at Utica to the mouth of the creek in Venango County, add a two-meals-per-month advisory for walleye.
  • Tunungwant Creek – From the confluence of the East and West Branches to the New York border in McKean County, add a two-meals-per-month advisory for all suckers.


Advisories added due to PCB contamination:

  • Allegheny River – In pools 3, 4 and 5—Lock and Dam 3 to Lock and Dam 6 in Armstrong County—add a one-meal-per-month advisory for carp.

 
Advisories eased:

  • West Branch Brandywine Creek – From Route 30 in Coatesville to the confluence of Buck Run in Chester County, change from six meals per year to one meal per month for American eel due to PCB contamination.

 
Advisories lifted:

  • Big Elk Creek – From the confluence of East and West Branches to the Maryland border in Chester County, remove the two-meals-per-month advisory due to mercury for American eel.
  • Loyalsock Creek – From the confluence of Little Loyalsock Creek at Forksville to the mouth of the creek in Sullivan and Lycoming counties, remove the two-meals-per-month advisory due to mercury for smallmouth bass.
  • Thorn Creek – From the source to the Route 2012 bridge at Frazier Mill in Butler County, remove the two-meals-per-month advisory due to mercury for trout.

 
Advisories made more restrictive:

  • Beaver River – From the confluence of Mahoning and Shenango rivers to New Brighton Dam in Lawrence and Beaver counties, change the advisory from six meals per year to Do Not Eat for carp and channel catfish due to PCB contamination.

Advisories where the segment description is changed:

  • Red Clay Creek – Change “entire basin” to now exclude the West Branch Red Clay Creek tributary in Chester County for the existing one-meal-per-month advisory for American eel due to PCB contamination.
  • Schuylkill River – Change the current start of the segment from “Felix Dam above Reading” to now start at the Confluence of Maiden Creek, but still extend to Black Rock Dam above Phoenixville in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties for the six-meals-per-year advisory for carp and channel catfish due to PCB contamination.
  • Schuylkill River – Change the current start of the segment from “Felix Dam above Reading” to now start at the Confluence of Maiden Creek, but still extend to Fairmont Dam in Berks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties for the Do Not Eat advisory for American eel and the one-meal-per-month advisory for all suckers due to PCB contamination.
  • Brokenstraw Creek – Change the current start of the segment from “Confluence of Little Brokenstraw Creek” to “Hare Creek” to the mouth of Brokenstraw Creek in Warren County for the two-meals-per-month advisory for all suckers due to mercury.
  • Monongahela River – Change the end of the segment for “Point Marion Lock and Dam to Grays Landing” to now end at the Maxwell Lock and Dam in Fayette and Greene counties for the one-meal-per-month advisory for carp due to PCB contamination.

 

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