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Oregon Health Authority

Advisories and Guidelines

Fish in many of Oregon’s waters have not been sampled for contaminants that can be found in their tissue, therefore a water body that has no advisory in place does not mean the fish are free of contaminants. When data is available, OHA calculates meal recommendations and when necessary will issue a fish advisory. For more information about current advisories, or about contaminants and their health effects, call the Oregon Health Authority at 1-877-290-6767.

Fish advisories and guidelines Recreational shellfish advisories and guidelines



Advisories are designed to help you gain the health benefits of eating fish and shellfish while protecting you and your family from contaminants sometimes found in seafood.

Consumption guidelines provide recommendations for when you should limit or avoid eating certain fish or shellfish to reduce your exposure to chemicals like mercury, PCBs and other contaminants. The key is to make smart choices and choose fish and shellfish that are low in contaminants. In general, younger, smaller fish have fewer contaminants.

OHA uses the SOG to calculate meal recommendations for fish and shellfish based on fish tissue data made available to the agency.

Fish Advisories and Consumption Guidelines

Select a region on the map or check the table below for Oregon fish advisories and consumption guidelines.

NOTE: There is a statewide advisory for bass.

No current advisories in the Northwest region No current advisories in the Northeast region Click for Columbia River fish advisories Click for Snake River fish advisories Click for Southeast Oregon Fish Advisories Click for Southwest Oregon Fish Advisories Click for Central Oregon fish advisories Click for Willamette Region fish advisories

MEALS PER MONTH
Zone
Waterbody
Contaminant
Affected fish species
Vulnerable population
Everyone else
STATEWIDE

All state water bodies

mercury Bass2
6
MULTIPLE

Columbia River and its Oregon tributaries (for example, Willamette, Hood, John Day)

mercury 

pcb 

Lamprey2
4
COLUMBIA Bonneville Dam at Bradford Island, extending one mile upstream to Ruckel Creek pcb All resident fish (Including Sturgeon)00
Mid-Columbia River, from Ruckel Creek to McNary Dam mercury All resident fish (Including Sturgeon)44
Lower Columbia River

mercury 

pcb 

Sturgeon
46
SOUTHWEST Applegate Lake mercury Large and smallmouth bass and yellow perch25
Panfish (bluegill and crappie)413
Cooper Creek Reservoir mercury All resident fish 14
Emigrant Reservoir mercury All resident fish except rainbow trout 13
Galesville Reservoir mercury All resident fish 14
Plat I Reservoir mercury All resident fish 26
CENTRALEast Lake mercury All resident fish 13
Brown trout (16 inches or longer) 01
SOUTHEAST Antelope Reservoir mercury All resident fish 01
Jordan Creek, from Antelope Reservoir to the creek's confluence with the Owyhee River
mercury All resident fish 01
Owyhee Reservoir mercury All resident fish 13
Owyhee River upstream to Three Forks mercury All resident fish 26
Phillips Reservoir mercury Yellow perch 25
WILLAMETTE

Columbia Slough

pcb


All resident fish including crayfish

Fillet only - 1
Whole body - 0
Largescale suckerFillet only - 2
Whole body - 0
Cottage Grove Reservoirs mercury All resident fish except stocked, fin-clipped rainbow trout (12 inches or less) 01
Dorena Reservoirs 14

Lower Willamette River, from the Sellwood Bridge to its confluence with the Columbia, to include Multnomah Channel from its confluence with the Willamette to the Sauvie Island Bridge.

pcb

All resident fish

Meal recommendations and information
Lower Willamette River
Sturgeon
1
1
Willamette River, from its mouth on the Columbia River southward to Eugene
  • Includes: Coast Fork to Cottage Grove Reservoir
  • Does not apply to: Middle Fork, North Fork of the Middle Fork, or to any other tributary emptying into the Willamette
mercury All resident fish
1
4
Multnomah Channel and Scappoose Bay
pcb
All resident fish
Meal recommendations and information

SNAKE RIVER

Snake River, from just south of Adrien, OR north to the WA border

  • Includes: Brownlee Reservoir and the Powder River arm
mercury All resident fish 3
8

Vulnerable population includes children under age 6, people who are or may become pregnant and people who are nursing.

mercury = Mercury   pcb= PCBs, dioxins and/or certain pesticides 

“Resident” fish spend their entire lives within a certain territory, and do not migrate.

“Migratory” fish such as salmon, steelhead, shad and lamprey, spend most of their lives at sea, and contain less localized contaminants. In general, smaller, younger fish have fewer contaminants.


Fish cleaning and cooking guidelines

Follow this guidelines to reduce your exposure to PCBs and other fat-soluble contaminants.

Fish Cleaning and Cooking Guidelines

What is a meal?what is a meal

A meal is about the size and thickness of your hand, or 1 ounce of uncooked fish for every 20 pounds of body weight.

  • 160 pound adult = 8 oz.
  • 80 pound child = 4 oz.
EPA flyer: Helpful advice about eating fish for those who might become or are pregnant or breastfeeding and children ages 1 – 11 years.

Contaminants and their health effects

Mercury and PCBs accumulate in our bodies over time and are passed on to developing fetuses through the placenta. Children’s brains go through extraordinary development in the womb and during the first six years of life. Mercury and PCBs can interfere with normal brain development and cause lifelong learning disabilities. PCBs can also cause cancer in children and adults.

Recreational Shellfish Advisories and Consumption Guidelines

Shellfish Safety Closures (ODA)

Advisory: Softshell and Gaper Clams on Oregon Coast
OHA has issued an advisory for recreationally harvested softshell and gaper clams along the Oregon coast due to arsenic contamination. See the table below for details and resources.

MEALS PER MONTH
Zone
Affected species
Contaminant
Location
Consumption guidelines
*Meal sizes by age
Resources
OREGON COAST

Softshell clams
(Mya arenaria)

Gaper clams

(Tresus capax)

Inorganic ArsenicNorth Coast 
(Mouth of Columbia to Neskowin)

Siphon skin intact - 1

Siphon skin removed - 11

Central Coast
(Cascade Head to mouth of Umpqua River)

Siphon skin intact - 2

Siphon skin removed - 26

South Coast
(Mouth of Umpqua River to California Border)

Siphon skin intact - 4

Siphon skin removed - 33


Softshell and Gaper clams: Meal sizes for different age groups

Age group

Meal size by clam weight
(excluding shells)

Meal size by clam volume
(excluding shells)

Adult (17 years and older)

8 ounces

1 cup

12-16 years old

6 ounces

3/4 cup

7-11 years old

4 ounces

1/2 cup

4-6 years old

3 ounces

1/3 cup

2-3 years old

2 ounces

1/4 cup