State expands fish advisories to include largemouth bass caught statewide and other species

Chapel Hill –Largemouth bass caught in any waters statewide, as well as many species of ocean-caught fish such as Spanish mackerel, cobia, and amberjack have been included on the state’s list of fish with dangerously high mercury levels, according to the North Carolina Division of Public Health. This expansion is the first to include a statewide catch, and increases the number of marine species included.

The announcement comes as the state is considering a new proposal to regulate mercury pollution from the state’s coal-fired power plants. Yesterday the state’s Environmental Management Committee announced opportunities for public comment on the proposal in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Winterville beginning May 25 (schedule and locations below).

“Because North Carolina regulators have not adequately controlled mercury pollution at its source, the state has increasingly expanded its fish consumption advisories, including more fish species from more waters in an effort to protect the public from dangerous mercury contamination,” said John Suttles, Senior Attorney with SELC. “While these advisories are important, regulating mercury when it’s on the dinner table is not the answer. We must take serious steps to control the pollution at its source – coal-fired power plants.”

The fish consumption advisory issued by the state Division of Public Health includes largemouth bass caught statewide, as well as almaco jack, banded rudderfish, canned white tuna (albacore tuna), cobia, Crevalle jack, greater amberjack, South Atlantic grouper (gag, scamp, red and snowy), king mackerel, ladyfish, little tunny, marlin, orange roughy, shark, Spanish mackerel, swordfish, tilefish, and tuna (fresh or frozen). In addition to the statewide advisory, high mercury levels have been found in blackfish (bowfin), catfish, jack fish (chain pickerel), and warmouth caught in freshwaters south and east of Interstate 85.

Women of childbearing age, pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 15 are advised not to eat any fish high in mercury while other adults are cautioned to eat only one serving per week. Certain species of fish in waters east and south of Interstate I-85, including the entire coastline, have been included in fish advisories for years.

Coal-fired power plants are the leading source of mercury pollution, which is emitted into the air and deposited in water bodies where it is consumed by fish before it works its way up the food chain. Unborn children, breast-fed infants and children exposed to mercury are at risk for mental retardation, lowered intelligence and learning disabilities. Adults exposed to even low amounts of mercury may also be at higher risk for heart disease and heart attacks, altered sensation, impaired hearing and vision, and motor disturbances linked directly to exposure from eating contaminated fish.

The state’s Environmental Management Commission has issued a proposal to control mercury from the state’s utilities. The proposed rule, however, is too weak because it would allow the biggest polluters to buy their way out of installing state-the-art controls and does not require deep enough cuts in mercury pollution in a timely way. The Southern Environmental Law Center is urging the state to require utilities to control 90 percent of mercury emissions, which can be achieved through readily available technology at a cost of less than 1 percent of utility profits – as little as 33 cents per month on the average household utility bill.

North Carolina ranks among the top 10 states with the highest mercury emissions from power plants. In fact, these power plants account for more than 70 percent of in-state emissions. Our high number of old, coal fired power plants combined with our normally high rainfall levels and numerous water bodies means that mercury turns into its toxic form – methlymercury – faster in NC than in other parts of the country.

In 2001 North Carolina enjoyed a $2.3 billion economic impact from fishing – the fifth highest in the nation. Out of state anglers spend $7 million per year in the state, and in 2001, 1.3 million licensed fishermen spent 12 million days fishing in freshwater and 3.4 million days fishing in saltwater.

Public hearings on the state’s proposed mercury controls will be held in the following cities on the following dates:
Charlotte – Mary 25 at 7pm; Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center
Raleigh – June 1 at 7pm; Archdale Building
Winterville – June 8 at 7pm; Lassie Building Room 143 at Pitt Community College
More information can be found at http://daq.state.nc.us/rules/hearing/