Fish Advisory for Lake Chabot Offers Safe-Eating Advice for Four Species
For Immediate Release
Contact: Amy Gilson
(916) 764-0955
Amy.Gilson@oehha.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO – Today, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a new fish consumption advisory for Lake Chabot, located in the city of Vallejo, in Solano County. The advisory provides safe-eating advice for black bass species, Common Carp, Golden Shiner and sunfish species. This advice pertains only to Lake Chabot in Solano County. OEHHA released separate advice for Lake Chabot in Alameda County.
OEHHA’s Good Catch California program routinely develops fish advisories so Californians can make healthy choices about the fish they catch in waterbodies across the state.
“Many fish have nutrients that may reduce the risk of heart disease, and fish are excellent sources of protein,” said OEHHA Acting Director Dr. David Edwards. “OEHHA’s guidelines help people eating fish caught in Lake Chabot to make healthy, informed decisions.”
OEHHA developed these recommendations based on the levels of mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in fish caught in the lake. Historic mining and coal burning released mercury into the environment, where it can accumulate in fish. Because mercury affects brain development, particularly in developing children and fetuses, OEHHA provides advice tailored to two groups based on sex and age.
PCBs are a group of industrial chemicals. At high levels of exposure, they can cause health problems, including cancer. Although they were banned in the United States in the late 1970s, PCBs persist in the environment from spills, leaks or improper disposal. PCBs accumulate in the skin, fat and some internal organs of fish. To reduce exposure from PCB-contaminated fish, OEHHA recommends eating only the skinless fillet (meat) portion of the fish.
For Lake Chabot, OEHHA provides the following safe-eating advice:
Women (18 – 49 years) and children (1 – 17 years)
- Should not eat black bass species.
- May eat the following on a weekly basis:
- Five total servings of Golden Shiner, or
- Two total servings of sunfish species, or
- One total serving of Common Carp.
Women (50 years and older) and men (18 years and older)
- May eat the following on a weekly basis:
- Seven total servings of Golden Shiner or sunfish species, or
- Two total servings of Common Carp, or
- One total serving of black bass species.
One serving for adults is an eight-ounce fish fillet, measured before cooking, which is roughly the size and thickness of your hand. For small fish species, several individual fish may make up a single eight-ounce serving. Children should eat servings of less than eight ounces. Eating fish in amounts slightly greater than the advisory’s recommendations is not likely to cause health problems if it is done only occasionally, such as eating fish caught during an annual vacation.
A poster with safe-eating advice for Lake Chabot is available on OEHHA’s website in both English and Spanish. For fish species found in Lake Chabot that are not included in this advisory, OEHHA recommends following its statewide advisory for eating fish from California lakes and reservoirs without site-specific advice.
OEHHA’s fish advisory recommendations are based on the levels of contaminants, such as mercury, that persist in the environment and accumulate in fish. They are independent of any shorter-term advisories to limit fish intake due to freshwater or estuarine harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can produce toxins harmful to humans. Before fishing, check the California HAB Reports Map to see if there are HAB advisories and always practice healthy water habits.
The Lake Chabot advisory joins more than 150 other OEHHA advisories that provide site-specific, health-based fish consumption advice for many places where people catch and eat fish in California, including lakes, rivers, bays, reservoirs and the California coast. Advisories are available on OEHHA’s Fish Advisories webpage.
OEHHA’s mission is to protect and enhance the health of Californians and the environment through scientific evaluations that inform, support, and guide regulatory and other actions in the state.
###
