LDH issues updates for five fish consumption advisories in Northeastern Louisiana | La Dept. of Health - Louisiana Department of Health - Louisiana.gov

The Louisiana Departments of Health, Environmental Quality, and Wildlife and Fisheries today issued a series of updates to five existing fish consumption advisories due to unacceptable levels of mercury detected in the fish.

People are exposed to low levels of mercury throughout their lives. Eating contaminated fish is one way we are exposed to mercury. Health effects from harmful levels of mercury can include nervous system and kidney damage.

Young children and developing fetuses are more sensitive to the toxic effects of mercury. Therefore, consumption advisories are issued at lower fish tissue concentrations for women of childbearing age and children under 7 years of age.

The Department of Environmental Quality conducts fish sampling and LDH then uses this data to determine the need for additional advisories or to modify existing advisories. Each advisory lists the specific fish, makes consumption recommendations and outlines the geographic boundaries of the affected waterways.

The five advisories are:

Bayou Bonne Idee

• Includes Bayou Bonne Idee from its headwaters near Jones, Louisiana to its confluence with the Boeuf River east of Oak Ridge
• Women of childbearing age and children less than 7 years of age should consume no more than one meal per month of bowfin (choupique, grinnel), flathead catfish, freshwater drum (gaspergou), and largemouth bass combined; or should consume no more than two meals per month of channel catfish and yellow bullhead combined.
• Other adults and children 7 years of age and older should consume no more than three meals per month of flathead catfish.

Bayou DeSiard

• Includes Bayou DeSiard from its headwaters to its confluence with the Ouachita River
• Women of childbearing age and children less than 7 years of age should consume no more than one meal per month of bowfin (choupique, grinnel); or should consume no more than two meals per month of black crappie (sac-à-lait) and largemouth bass combined.
• Other adults and children 7 years of age and older should consume no more than three meals per month of bowfin (choupique, grinnel).

Black Bayou Lake

• Includes Black Bayou Lake in Ouachita Parish
• Women of childbearing age and children less than 7 years of age should consume no more than one meal per month of bowfin (choupique, grinnel); or should consume no more than three meals per month of largemouth bass.
• Other adults and children 7 years of age and older: no advisory.

Lake Louis (Lovelace Lake) and Bayou Louis

• Includes Lake Louis (Lovelace Lake) and Bayou Louis from its headwaters to its confluence with the Ouachita River
• Women of childbearing age and children less than 7 years of age should consume no more than one meal per month of bowfin (choupique, grinnel), flathead catfish, and freshwater drum (gaspergou) combined; or should consume no more than three meals per month of black crappie (sac-à-lait), largemouth bass, and spotted bass combined.
• Other adults and children 7 years of age and older should consume no more than three meals per month of flathead catfish.

Ouachita River

• Includes the Ouachita River from the Louisiana/Arkansas border to the confluence of the Tensas River including any lakes that are inside of the levee system, or within the Ouachita River flood plain
• Women of childbearing age and children less than 7 years of age should not consume bowfin (choupique, grinnel), crappie (sac-à-lait), flathead catfish, freshwater drum (gaspergou), largemouth bass, spotted bass or white bass; and should limit all other species to no more than one meal per month.
• Other adults and children 7 years of age and older should consume no more than two meals per month of bass, bowfin (choupique, grinnel), catfish, crappie (sac-à-lait) and freshwater drum (gaspergou) combined.

*A meal is considered to be half a pound of fish for adults

Louisiana fish consumption advisories are based on the estimate that the average resident eats four meals of fish per month. Consuming more than this from local water bodies may increase health risks.

Because of mercury contamination, there are now fish consumption advisories for 49 waterways in Louisiana and one for the Gulf of Mexico.

The full text for each advisory is available online: www.ldh.la.gov/EatSafeFish or by calling toll-free 1-888-293-7020. You may also access the information by downloading the Department of Environmental Quality's new app which is available through Google Play (DEQ Fish Advisories) and the App Store (LA Fish Advisories).