Fish Advisory Issued for Priest Lake

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has issued a fish consumption advisory for Priest Lake for pregnant women and children because of mercury levels found in lake trout. The mercury levels in lake trout do not pose a health threat for the general public, but could affect unborn or small children. Priest Lake is a 19-mile lake in the northern Idaho Panhandle. Earlier this year, Health and Welfare issued another advisory for fish caught in the American Falls Reservoir because of mercury levels. The fish consumption advisory is not meant to convince anyone to stop fishing nor should people give up eating fish. The advisory is meant to inform people about mercury levels so they can continue to enjoy fishing and eating fish while avoiding the risks of exposure to dangerous levels of mercury. "Due to the possibility that a child's health could be affected by exposure to mercury in the womb, through breastfeeding or by eating fish, we have issued the advisory with specific recommendations," said Chris Corwin, of the Fish Advisory Program for the Division of Health. Women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant should limit lake trout they eat from Priest Lake to no more than four meals per month, and children under 7 should eat no more than two meals per month. A meal is considered eight ounces of uncooked fish for adults and children older than 7, and four ounces for children 7 and under. For most people, mercury from eating fish is not harmful but the developing nervous systems of unborn or small children are more susceptible to mercury poisoning. Health and Welfare also has issued a fish advisory for mercury in lake trout and whitefish in Lake Pend Oreille, which is near Priest Lake. Consumption advisories also have been issued for Salmon Falls, C.J. Strike and Brownlee Reservoirs, Lake Lowell, Lake Coeur d'Alene and East Mill Creek. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration advise pregnant women and children to avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish, which are all saltwater fish commonly found in food stores and restaurants and often high in mercury. Salmon, steelhead, rainbow trout, catfish, pollock, oysters, shrimp and canned light tuna are among the many other kinds of fish low in mercury. For more information call the Idaho Fish Consumption Advisory Program at 1-866-240-3553. For information about mercury in fish and shellfish go to the state Health and Welfare's web site at: www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/portal/alias__Rainbow/lang__en-US/tabID_… or the Environmental Protection Agency's website at: www.epa.gov/waterscience/fishadvice/advice.html.