Freshwater fish, PCB contamination, and health advisories

[mtnbkr]

The smallmouth fishing in Northern Virginia is great.  However, there is a lot of PCB polution in the various waterways of Northern Virginia.  According to information here: http://www.vdh.state.va.us/HHControl/PotomacRiver.asp , the only fish you have to be wary of in the Bull Run sections are channel cats and carp.  Does that mean other fish species are safe to eat because they're not listed?  The VDH site isn't clear on the safety of non-listed species.

I'm curious because I found a new spot (just below the dam at Lake Jackson) that seems loaded with good sized smallies.  I'm tired of throwing back keeper sized fish.

Chris

[K Frame]

I think, but am not certain, that PCBs tend to concentrate in soil, which would make the bottom dwellers/feeders a lot more susceptible to contamination.

Bass are top feeders, and I don't believe that they prey on fish of a size likely to be contaminated with PCBs.

And of course I can't open the link you provided. Government websites working at peak efficiency again...

[charby]

Toxins settle in fat and organs of fish (and mammals too). Catfish and Carp are fatty fish, so it would make sense that they have advisory. Same with the mercury scare in Salmon and Trout, they are fatty fish.

Charby

[K Frame]

Here we go, from the Environmental Defense . org website.

"PCBs accumulate in the sediments at the bottoms of streams, rivers, lakes and coastal areas. These chemicals can build up in the fatty tissues of fish and other animals, and in high concentrations pose serious health risks to people who frequently eat contaminated fish."

Exactly what I thought. Bottom dwelling/feeding fish are at a greater risk for contamination, but that certainly doesn't mean that other fish will be PCB-free.

[mtnbkr]

Thanks folks.  That pretty much jives with what I've been reading, but I didn't know if there was still some risk in other species or if it was limited to the catfish/carp families due to body comp and feeding habits.

Chris

[K Frame]

Probably still some risk, especially if the waters are turbulent. If the PCBs get stirred up, any fish is going to be exposed.

Weren't you telling me that the consumption warning signs on Bull Run were for all fish?

[mtnbkr]

No, the warning was specifically for catfish and I've only seen those signs (actually A sign) at that one spot off of Rt28.  I don't know if it's because that's a popular fishing spot or because that area is particularly polluted (it is a semi-industrial area).

The waters where I fished last night appeared to be fairly clear.  I could see fish swimming around from a good 10-15' away at 8pm.

BTW, it was pretty cool to have a pair of herons fishing for their dinner less than 50yds upstream of me.

Chris

[charby]

I'd be most worried about your young daughter eating the fish under advisory than anything.

[mtnbkr]

That won't be a problem.  She doesn't eat fish, nor does my wife.  

Chris

[K Frame]

"BTW, it was pretty cool to have a pair of herons fishing for their dinner less than 50yds upstream of me."

Great blue, green, or black crowned night herons?

Damned neat birds, herons are. Every hear the call of a great blue? Sounds like a truck full of tin cans and broken glass hitting a wall at 20 mph.


"That won't be a problem.  She doesn't eat fish, nor does my wife."

The way Michele cooks her meat, how the hell can she identify what it was before it strayed into the napalm?

[charby]

The way Michele cooks her meat, how the hell can she identify what it was before it strayed into the napalm?

Chris

So your wife likes shoe leather?

C

[K Frame]

I put a charcoal briquette on her plate beside her pork chop, and she couldn't tell the difference.

[mtnbkr]

Great blue, green, or black crowned night herons?
Damned neat birds, herons are. Every hear the call of a great blue? Sounds like a truck full of tin cans and broken glass hitting a wall at 20 mph.

Dunno.  It was getting dark.  They were tall, that's about all I could tell.  The call sounded like your description though.

So your wife likes shoe leather

Yes.  When we grill, I put her meat on several minutes before mine.

Chris

[K Frame]

"I put her meat on several minutes before mine."

Doesn't that hurt?

[charby]

I see this topic is going down hill pretty fast, like a truck full of tin cans and broken glass hitting a wall at 20 mph.

[K Frame]

"I see this topic is going down hill pretty fast, like a truck full of tin cans and broken glass hitting a wall at 20 mph."

HHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW
WWWWWWWWWWKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH!

That's the best spelling I can do for the sound of either a Great Blue Heron or the aforementioned truck.

Years ago when I was living in Pennsylvania one of the companies that runs natural gas and petroleum pipelines that go from the south to the north got in one HELL of a lot of trouble for draining transformer oils onto the ground outside their pumping stations, some of which were located very close to streams.

In some places PCB concentrations in the soil were several thousand times higher than what was permissible under the law even back then.

[crt360]

Avoid eating the three-eyed, Bart Simpson bass.

We have a lot of those great blue herons around.  I've actually caught one . . . while fishing . . . with a rod and reel.  It was very late and I was drifting down a bank, casting a Texas-rigged 4" crawdad up against the rocks about 20 ft in front of me.  This one time I cast, I could tell my worm (crawdad) didn't land on the bank or in the water -  BRRRAAAAAAAAUUUUKKKKK!!! -  my line is now going up in the air.  I'm thinking "holy s**t" and grasping for something to cut my line and/or fight a pterodactyl with.  By some great bit of luck, the worm (hook, weight and all) eventually broke free, made a beeline for home (that would be my general vicinity), I ducked and all ended quietly.  

I don't know if I snagged it, or if the heron actually caught the bait in mid-air - I had no idea it was even standing there.