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                                                   Eat Fish * Be Smart * Choose Wisely

 

Educational Resources

                          

 

Seafood and Fish are good for your heart and brain. Both are low in fat, high in protein, and rich in nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3's provide protection from heart disease and are an important brain food for you, your children, and your unborn child.

 

Fish consumption guidelines are designed to help you gain these health benefits while protecting you and your family from contaminants found in fish.  The key is to make smart choices, and choose fish that are low in mercury, PCBs, and other contaminants.

 

In general, younger, smaller fish have fewer contaminants.                         

 

To Learn More About Contaminants in Fish:

  • Click on the Healthy Fish Guide (shown on the right). Use this guide to make smart choices about the types of fish you eat. This wallet-sized card can be taken to the grocery store, restaurants, and when going fishing. You can order these guides by emailing: ehap.info@state.or.us

 

 

To View Current Sport-Caught Fish Advisories located throughout Oregon:

Click On Your Fishing Spot In The Map Below For Fish Consumption Guidelines

Lower Columbia River.Lower Columbia River.Bonnevile Dam.Portland Harbor.Columbia Slough.Mainstem Willamette River.Coast Fork Willamette River.Cottage Grove Reservoir.Cooper Creek Reservoir.Cooper Creek Reservoir.Dorena Reservoir.East Lake.Emigrant Lake.Plat I Reservoir.Galesville Reservoir.Snake River.Brownlee Reservoir.Owyhee Reservoir.Owyhee River.Jordon Creek.Antelope Reservoir.

                 Waterbody reference map:recommendations for fish consumption.


 

WATERBODY CONTAMINANT & GUIDELINES

Antelope Reservoir and Jordan Creek

(SE Oregon, Malheur County)

 Very high mercury levels
  • Women ages 18-45, children under 6, pregnant and/or nursing women, and people with liver and kidney problems should avoid eating fish from these waters.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal per month of fish caught in these waters.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Bonneville Dam
(On the Columbia River, from the dam, upstream to Ruckel Creek)		 PCB and Mercury Levels
  • All persons should limit consumption of smallmouth bass to one meal per month. A serving, or "meal", is about the size and thickness of your hand, or 1 ounce for every 20 pounds of body weight.
    • For a 160 pound adult, one meal = 8 ounces
    • For a 30lb child, one meal = 2 ounces
  • Removing and throwing away the skin, fat, eggs and internal organs will reduce exposure to PCBs in fish. See fish cleaning diagram.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about PCBs in Fish, and Sport-fishing & methylmercury.

(Lower) Columbia

River
(Columbia River Zone)

 PCB Levels
  • All persons, especially women who are pregnant, nursing or between the ages of 18-45, should avoid eating the fatty parts of fish caught in the Lower Columbia River.
  • Removing and throwing away the skin, fat, eggs, and internal organs will reduce exposure to PCBs in fish. See fish cleaning diagram.
  • Learn more about PCBs in Fish.

(Lower) Columbia Slough
(Willamette Zone, Multnomah County)

 PCB Levels
  • Pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, and women ages 18-45 should avoid or limit consumption of carp and black crappie.
  • All persons should avoid eating fatty parts of fish caught in these waters.
  • Removing and throwing away the skin, fat, eggs and internal organs will reduce exposure to PCBs in fish. See fish cleaning diagram.
  • Learn more about PCBs in Fish.

Cooper Creek Reservoir
(Willamette Zone, East of Sutherlin, Douglas County)

 High mercury levels
  • Children under 6 should eat no more than one meal every two months.
  • Women ages 18-45 should eat no more than one meal every month.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal every two weeks.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Cottage Grove Reservoir
(Willamette Zone, Lane County)		 Very high mercury levels
  • Women ages 18-45, children under 6, and people with liver and kidney problems should avoid eating fish from these waters.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal per month.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Dorena Reservoir
(Willamette Zone, Lane County)		 High mercury levels
  • Children under 6 should eat no more than one meal every two months.
  • Women ages 18-45 should eat no more than one meal every month.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal every two weeks.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.

East Lake, in Newberry Crater
(Central Oregon, Deschutes County)

High mercury levels 

  • Do not eat brown trout 16" or larger, and follow the guidelines below for other fish caught in these waters:
  • Children under 6 should eat no more than one meal every two months.
  • Women aged 18-45 should eat no more than one meal every month.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal every two weeks.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Emigrant Lake
(SW Oregon, Jackson County)		 Very high mercury levels
  • Women of childbearing age, children under 6, and people with liver and kidney problems should avoid eating fish from these waters.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal per month.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Galesville Reservoir
(SW Oregon, East of Azalea, in Southern Douglas County)

High mercury levels 

  • Children under 6 should eat no more than one meal every two months.
  • Women ages 18-45 should eat no more than one meal every month.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal every two weeks.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Owyhee Reservoir
(SE Oregon, Malheur County)		 Very high mercury levels
  • Women ages 18-45, children under 6, and people with liver and kidney problems should avoid eating fish from these waters.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal per month.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Owyhee River upstream of Owyhee Reservoir to Three Forks
(SE Oregon, Malheur County)		 High mercury levels
  • Children under 6 should eat no more than one meal every two months.
  • Women ages 18-45 should eat no more than one meal every month.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal every two weeks.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Plat I Reservoir
(SW Oregon, East of Sutherlin, Douglas County)		 Moderate mercury levels
  • Children under 6 should eat no more than one meal per month.
  • Women ages 18-45 should eat no more than one meal every two weeks.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal per week.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
Portland Harbor
(Extending from the Freemont Bridge northward to Sauvie Island)		 PCB levels
  • Women ages 18-45, particularly pregnant or breastfeeding women, children under 6, and people with weak immune systems, thyroid or liver problems, should avoid eating resident fish from Portland Harbor, especially carp, bass and catfish. "Resident" fish are those that spend their entire lives within a certain territory, and do not migrate. Non-resident, migratory fish such as Salmon, Steelhead, and Lamprey are not included in this advisory.

  • *Please note that the sturgeon sampled from Portland Harbor were fairly small (about 40 inches long). Larger and older sturgeon would be expected to have higher levels of PCBs and should be restricted like carp, bass and catfish. 

  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should restrict the amount of resident fish eaten from Portland Harbor to no more than one meal per month.
  • All persons should reduce or avoid eating fatty parts of fish.
  • Removing and throwing away the skin, fat, eggs, and internal organs will reduce exposure to PCBs in fish. See fish cleaning diagram.
  • Learn more about PCBs in Fish.
Wood-treating chemicals in the sediment
  • Crayfish taken within 1000 feet of the property lines of the former McCormick & Baxter site located south of the Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge in Portland Harbor should not be eaten.
Snake River, including Brownlee Reservoir
(Snake River, from the Oregon/ Washington border southwards to where the river flows into Idaho, below the town of Adrian)		 Moderate mercury levels
  • Children under 6 should eat no more than one meal every month.
  • Women ages 18-45 should eat no more than one meal every two weeks.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one 8-ounce meal every week.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • Learn more about Sport-fishing & methylmercury.

 

 

Willamette River 

("Mainstem" - the Coastal Fork  to Cottage Grove Reservoir)

 

 

High mercury levels & PCB levels

  • All Resident fish in the mainstem of the Willamette River should be eaten in moderate amounts.  "Resident" fish are those that spend their entire lives within a certain territory, and do not migrate. This advisory does not include  migratory fish such as Salmon, Steelhead, and Lamprey. 
  • Children under 6 should eat no more than one meal every two months.
  • Women ages 18-45 should eat no more than one meal per month.
  • Healthy women beyond childbearing age (>45 years) and healthy adult males should eat no more than one meal every two weeks.
  • All persons should reduce or avoid eating fatty parts of fish.
  • Removing and throwing away the skin, fat, eggs, and internal organs can reduce exposure to PCBs in fish. See fish cleaning diagram.
  • Mercury cannot be removed through cleaning or cooking methods.
  • PCBs in Fish.
  • Sport-fishing & methylmercury.
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Page updated: December 04, 2009

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