Are fish caught in Northeast Ohio safe to eat?

by: Justin Dennis

Posted: Aug 13, 2023 / 09:00 PM EDT

Updated: Aug 14, 2023 / 07:57 AM EDT

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(WJW) — Ohio anglers looking to cook up the day’s catch should pause before picking up the frying pan. In some Ohio waters, caught fish should be consumed in moderation — or not at all — due to contamination, a new report shows.

The 2023 Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, released by the Ohio Department of Health, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, shows the Ohio spots where the fish are the most contaminated and offers guidance on safely preparing and eating them.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, are naturally occurring and environmentally persistent chemicals found in coal, crude oil and gasoline.

Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are man-made chemicals that were banned in 1979 but still persist in old industrial and commercial products as well as the environment because they are slow to break down.

Mercury is a naturally occurring metal and often a byproduct of forest fires and man-made sources like coal-burning power plants. Methylmercury is a mercury compound that builds up in fish.

Methylmercury and PCBs are responsible for most of the state’s fish consumption advisories. The materials can build up in a person’s body over months or years and stay in the body long after that person stopped eating contaminated fish, according to the report.

Contaminants found in Ohio-caught fish could cause birth defects in newborns carried by mothers who ate highly contaminated fish for years before becoming pregnant, according to the report.

Mercury is also known to affect the heart, brain and nerves in older adults.

Ohio fish are also analyzed for metals like arsenic and lead and pesticides like DDT.

Even with the contamination advisories, Ohio-caught fish are still good to eat because they’re rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and healthy oils — all of which outweigh the risks from contaminants, according to the report.

The report recommends following the four “Cs”: Check, Catch, Clean and Cook:

Eating one serving of Ohio-caught fish per week is generally safe, but it depends on the person’s age and size according to the report.

But there are several fishing spots in Northeast Ohio where anglers are advised to eat their catches less frequently due to contamination. The list of advisories below shows you how often you should eat them.

One adult serving — one meal — is about 4 to 6 ounces of cooked fish and one child serving is about 2 to 3 ounces of cooked fish.

To identify the fish on your hook, or get tips on how to catch them, use the visual guide on ODNR’s website.

Smaller or younger fish are generally healthier and safer to eat. The younger they are, the less time they’ve spent building up contaminants in their bodies.

Bottom-feeders and suckers should be avoided, as well as any fish caught in waters known to be contaminated.

Don’t catch just one type of fish. If one type of caught fish has a mercury contamination advisory while another type of caught fish has a PCB contamination advisory, it’s still safe to eat a serving of each within the same month, since mercury and PCBs affect the body in different ways, according to the report.

Contaminants build up in a fish’s skin, fat and organs, including the eggs. Those should all be removed, leaving only the fillet.

Cooking fish on a rack allows extra fat to drip away from the fillet, along with its contaminants. If you deep-fry fish, be sure to discard the oil after.

Most kinds of fish bought in grocery stores and restaurants are safe to eat, but you should avoid bigger fish like bigeye tuna, king mackerel, marlin, shark or swordfish.

Read on for the state’s fishing advisories for 2023. If your fishing spot isn’t on the lists below, that means fish caught there are safe to eat.

Fish caught in some parts of two Ohio rivers should only be released and never eaten, according to the report:

High levels of contaminants have been found in certain areas of three water bodies. It’s recommended to stay out of these waters:

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