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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 26, 2006 Crappie questions surface When December laboratory tests revealed that Emigrant Lake’s smallmouth bass contain enough mercury for state health officials to warn against eating these bass, the $800 question resonating around Jackson County was a simple one. What about the crappie? Samples of Emigrant’s smallmouth bass show high enough levels of mercury in their meat to warn everyone except healthy adults from eating the bass. Healthy adults should eat just one eight- ounce serving a month to avoid potential health effects. And in the silver-lining department, the lake’s stocked rainbow trout show low-enough levels to skirt a health advisory. But Emigrant Lake is, after all, managed as a trophy crappie lake, where the long, thin-bodied panfish the top lure for anglers who, up until now, have been encouraged to eat the lake’s crappie. So, are the lake’s crappie safe to eat? And what about the bluegill, the perch, the catfish and another half-dozen warmwater species that inhabit this reservoir east of Ashland? "The trout are fine," says toxicologist Dave Stone from the state Department of Human Services. "If you’re going to eat other resident fish, you should follow the guidelines for bass." A more direct answer will cost you roughly $800. Advertisement That’s how much it costs to test enough Emigrant crappie to determine if mercury levels in those fillets are high like they are in bass, or low like they are in the stocked trout. But no one’s pulling out a checkbook just yet. Not Jackson County health authorities. Not Stone’s own agency. Nor has any other state agency, or the feds, for that matter. There’s no money from fishing licenses earmarked for mercury testing. Not even a nickel from pollution credits goes for fish testing. No angling group, no church group and no culinary group has offered to fork over the dough to determine whether crappie should remain in a food group or rendered Oregon’s latest swimming thermometer. And only a rare federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded the tests on bass and trout in Emigrant and three other Jackson County lakes that turned up with low mercury levels. "Our intent is to go back to Emigrant and test the crappie," Stone says. "But it comes down to dollars we don’t have. "That’s pretty standard for all of the lakes," Stone says. Mercury is a worldwide health problem so prevalent in the aquatic food chain that it’s present in virtually all fish at some level. Oregon waterways have long been known to exceed health standards for mercury, which has been found in 15 different waterways dating back to the 1980s. Mercury is a naturally occurring element in the volcanic soils spread out across the state. Bacteria converts mercury and enables it to get into the food chain, and the elements collect in fish meat. Health officials typically issue health warnings when mercury levels reach .35 parts per million, and Emigrant’s smallmouth rated more than twice that. At .18 parts per million, the trout tested well within healthy levels. You can’t cook it out, smoke it out or cut it out. You can’t see it, feel it, smell it or taste it. Its greatest threat to humans is in developing fetuses because the mercury can pass through the placenta and harm fetal brain development. That’s why health officials warn women of child- bearing age, pregnant or nursing women, children under 6 and sick people from eating any of the tainted fish. State and county health officials plan to place signs around the lake warning anglers of the mercury advisories. The good news is that fish in Agate, Howard Prairie and Fish lakes all showed mercury levels well under health-advisory thresholds. "I’m kind of gratified that three out of four were clean," says Dan Van Dyke, Rogue District fish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Stone says there is no explanation why Howard Prairie, near the top of the Talent Irrigation District system, has extremely low mercury levels in the trout while bass in Emigrant at the base of the TID system does. The advisories also don’t paint a great scarlet M on Emigrant angling, or other recreation there. The fish are just as safe to catch, handle or even kiss as other smallmouth and crappie. Swimming and wading are perfectly safe for humans and pets. "It’s just a reminder that we should keep seafood in our diet and, if we want to eat fish we catch, go to places like Howard Prairie more often," Stone says. Van Dyke says his agency does not plan on installing new emergency angling restrictions to match the advisories, such as turn the lake into a catch-and-release waterway. The ODFW has enacted fishing regulations that mirror health advisories on other tainted reservoirs, and changes could come to Emigrant next year. No changes will be made without public notification and public input, Van Dyke says. "Certainly, with this new information, we could see some changes," Van Dyke says. In the meantime, the crappie question looms. "Certainly it would behoove us to get some testing done," Van Dyke says. "But so far, I think we’re looking OK." Everyone would prefer that Van Dyke could know that everything’s OK. But no one’s clamoring for mass mercury testing of fish. Not in Jackson County. Not in Oregon or anywhere in the West, Stone says. "Bass, I believe, are going to be problematic across the West," Stone says. "But there’s no way we’re going to be able to monitor all the species and all the waters in Oregon. "Jackson County isn’t the only county we feel hasn’t been adequately sampled," Stone says. "Are there other Emigrant Lakes out there? Probably." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail Crappie questions surface ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations Casinos Canada dvd-r Generic Viagra Myspace Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Sudoku Online Advertisement s