N:\Unfiled Manuscripts\DOE MS 133 Top Secret for Now\DOEMS133 2-22-05.Wpd
Do Scientists and Fishermen Collect the Same Size Fish: Implications for Fisk Assessment Joanna Burgera,b, Michael Gochfeldb,c, Sean Burkea,b, Christian W. Jeitnera,b, Steven Jewettd, Daniel Snigaroffe, Ronald Snigaroffe, Tim Stammf, Robert Patrickg, Conrad D. Volzh, and James Westoni a. Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8082 USA b. Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP), and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI), Piscataway, New Jersey USA c. Environmental and Community Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 USA d. University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska ?? USA e. Adak, Aleutian Islands, Alaska f. Nikolski, Aleutian Islands, Alaska g. ? h. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Graduate School of Public Health, Forbes Allies Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15206 USA i. University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677-1848 USA Abstract Recreational and subsistence fishing play a major role in the lives of many people, although most Americans obtain their fish from supermarkets or other commercial sources. Fish consumption has increased generally in recent years, largely because of the nutritional benefits of eating fish. Recent concerns about contaminants in fish have prompted federal and state agencies to analyze fish (especially freshwater fish targeted by recreational anglers) for contaminants, such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and to issue fish consumption advisories to help reduce the public health risks where warranted. Scientists engaged in environmental sampling, collect fish by a variety of means, and analyze the contaminants in those fish. Risk assessors use these levels as the basis for their advisories.
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