Fish Advisory for San Bernardino County’s Lake Gregory Offers Safe Eating Advice for Bullhead, Carp, and Other Species

Dec 15, 2016

For Immediate Release

Contact: Sam Delson
(916) 324-0955 (O)
(916) 764-0955 (C)

SACRAMENTO – A new state fish advisory issued today offers safe eating advice for five species of fish from Lake Gregory in San Bernardino County.

“Eating fish low in mercury can help reduce the risk of heart disease and provide an excellent source of protein,” said Dr. Lauren Zeise, director of the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). “These guidelines are designed to balance the health benefits of eating fish against the risks from exposure to mercury in fish caught from Lake Gregory.”

When consuming fish from Lake Gregory, women ages 18-45 and children ages 1-17 can safely eat seven servings per week of carp, or six servings per week of bullhead, or two servings per week of Tule Perch, or one serving per week of black bass species or crappie.

Women age 46 and older and men age 18 and older can safely eat seven servings per week of bullhead or carp, or five servings per week of Tule Perch, or three servings per week of crappie, or two servings per week of black bass species.

One serving is eight ounces prior to cooking, which for fish fillets is roughly the size and thickness of your hand. Children should be given smaller servings.

The recommendations developed by OEHHA for each fish species are based on the levels of mercury measured in fish from Lake Gregory in San Bernardino County’s mountain community of Crestline.

Mercury is a naturally occurring metal that is released into the environment from mining and burning coal, and accumulates in fish in the form of methylmercury. Methylmercury can damage the brain and nervous system, especially in developing children and fetuses.

Eating fish in amounts slightly greater than the advisory’s recommendations is not likely to cause health problems if it is done occasionally, such as eating fish caught during an annual vacation.

The health advisory and eating advice for Lake Gregory – as well as eating guidelines for other fish species and California bodies of water – are available at /fish/advisories. Pictorial fish consumption advice is also available on that page in both English and Spanish. The Lake Gregory recommendations join more than 70 other OEHHA advisories that provide health-based fish consumption advice for the great majority of places where people catch and eat fish in California, including hundreds of lakes, rivers, bays, reservoirs and the California Coast.

OEHHA is the primary state entity for the assessment of risks posed by chemical contaminants in the environment. Its mission is to protect and enhance public health and the environment by scientific evaluation of risks posed by hazardous substances.

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