Health Advice on Eating the Fish You Catch
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Long Island MAPS INSIDE Health Advice on Eating Fish You Catch New York City 1 Why We Have Advisories Fishing is fun and fish are an important part of a healthy diet. Fish contain high quality protein, essential nutrients, healthy fish oils, and are low in saturated fat. However, some fish contain chemicals at levels that may be harmful to health. To help people make healthier choices about which fish they eat, the New York State Department of Health issues advice about eating sportfish (fish you catch). The health advice about which fish to eat depends on: Where You Fish Health Risks Fish from waters that are close to human activities and contamination sources are more likely to be The primary chemicals of concern in New York City waters and Long Island marine waters contaminated than fish from remote marine waters. are PCBs, PFAS, dioxin, and cadmium. In Long Island freshwaters the primary chemical is In the New York City/Long Island (NYC/LI) area, chlordane and PFAS. These chemicals build up in your body over time. Health problems that fish from the Long Island Sound or the ocean are less may result from chemicals in fish range from small changes in health that are hard to detect contaminated. to birth defects and cancer. Visit www.health.ny.gov/fish/additional_information.htm for more information. Who You Are Women of childbearing age (under 50) and children under 15 are advised to limit the kinds of fish they eat Tips for Healthier Eating • Bacteria, viruses, or parasites can and how often they eat them. Women who eat highly be in or on fish. Keep harvested fish contaminated fish and become pregnant may have an • Try to space out your fish meals. For cold. Wear gloves when skinning and increased risk of having children who are slower to example, if the advice is that you can trimming. Wash hands and surfaces develop and learn. Chemicals may have a greater effect on eat up to four meals a month, don’t often when preparing fish, and keep the development of young children or unborn babies. Also, eat them all in the same week. This is raw foods separate. Cook fish and some chemicals may be passed on in mother’s milk. particularly important for women and shellfish thoroughly before eating. young children. Women beyond their childbearing years and men may face fewer • Do not eat the tomalley (“green stuff,” health risks from some chemicals. For that reason, the advice for mustard, liver, or hepatopancreas) ne meal = ½ poun women over age 50 and men over age 15 allows them to eat more kinds O d found in the body section of crabs and of sportfish and more often (see tables, pages 3-12). lobsters, and discard cooking liquid. Tomalley can contain high levels of What You Catch chemicals, including PCBs, dioxin, and There is specific advice about limiting or not eating cadmium. certain kinds of fish in the NYC/LI area (see tables, pages 3-12). Some species (kinds of fish) have higher See more tips for healthier eating on page 13. levels of chemicals than others. In general, smaller fish are less contaminated than larger, older fish of the same species. 2 3 1 2 Van Cortlandt Park NYC UPPER Bay, Rivers and Kills Riverdale Park Pelham Bay Park George Roberto Clemente BRONX Washington Manhasset Ba Bridge RIVERState Park Men Over 15 & Women Under 50 & BR Waterbody ONX RIVER Fish Women Over 50 Children Under 15 Long Island Sound y HARLEM Little Neck ark American eel DON’T EAT DON’T EAT RIVER Throgs Ba HUDSON RIVERerside P Powell’s y NEW JERSEY Riv ATTAN Astoria Park Cove Neck Atlantic needlefish Up to 1 meal/month DON’T EAT Bridge EAST36th Street MANH Gentry Plaza World’s Fair State Park Marina Cove Up to 6 crabs/week Pier 40 NEWT Blue crabs DON’T EAT OWN CREEK DON’T EAT tomalley Pier 25/26 QUEENS Williamsburg Bridge Bluefish Up to 1 meal/month DON’T EAT Y The Battery Brooklyn Bridge UPPER Carp Up to 1 meal/month DON’T EAT GOWANUS CANAL NEWARK BA KILL NEW YORK BAY Arthur Kill VAN KULL Canarsie Gateway National JFK Channel catfish DON’T EAT DON’T EAT BROOKLYN Recreation Area Airpor y Bronx River Staten Island Park t Paerdegat East River Botanical Verrazano Jamaica Head of Ba Gizzard shad DON’T EAT DON’T EAT Basin Gowanus Canal Garden Narrows Bay FDR Bridge Victory Blvd. Floyd Harlem River Goldfish Up to 1 meal/month DON’T EAT Boardwalk Hudson River south of Sheepshead Bay Bennet Lower Field Tappan Zee Bridge Rainbow smelt Up to 1 meal/month DON’T EAT y Beach New York wa Bayswater Point ARTHUR KILL Coney Island Rocka Kill Van Kull ATEN ISLAND Area State Park ST y National Bay Beach Newark Bay DON’T EAT: Newark Bay, Rockaway Point Gatewa Long Island South Shore Newtown Creek Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull Wolfe’s Recreation Striped bass DON’T EAT Raritan Bay west of Up to 1 meal/month: from Pond other waters listed to the left Park Wolfe’s Pond Park Atlantic Ocean RARITAN BAY Upper New York Bay Conference White catfish DON’T EAT DON’T EAT House Park The waters listed in the table (page 3) are bolded on this map. DON’T EAT: Newark Bay, Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull, Upper New York Bay, Western White perch Raritan Bay DON’T EAT American eel Atlantic needlefish Blue crab Bluefish Carp Channel catfish Up to 1 meal/month: from other waters listed to the left Crab or lobster Gizzard shad DON’T EAT DON’T EAT Goldfish Rainbow smelt Striped bass White catfish White perch tomalley Other fish not What about tributaries and connected waters? Up to 4 meals/month DON’T EAT listed The health advice also applies to tributaries and connected waters if there are no dams, Check the DEC website for updated regulations and special restrictions for certain species: falls, or barriers to stop the fish from moving upstream. This is because chemicals remain www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/fishing.html. in fish when they move from one waterbody to another. If you are not sure about possible fish barriers near waters where you are fishing, call your DEC office listed on the back of Please note that all fresh water bodies in New York City parks are catch and release only and are this booklet. 4 not regularly monitored for contaminants. For more information visit: 5 3 http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/special-regulations-waters-new-york-city/ 4 NYC LOWER Bay, Ocean and Sound Van Cortlandt Park Riverdale Park Pelham Bay Park George er Roberto Riv Clemente BRONX MANHASSET BA Men Over 15 & Women Under 50 & Washington Waterbody Fish Bridge State Park Women Over 50 Children Under 15 lem Bronx Riv Y Har LONG ISLAND SOUND er er LITTLE NECK ark River American eel Up to 4 meals/month Up to 1 meal/month BA Throgs Y Hudson Riv erside P Powell’s NEW JERSEY Riv ATTAN Astoria Park Cove Neck 36th Street Bridge MANH East World’s Fair Bluefish Up to 4 meals/month Up to 1 meal/month Gentry Plaza State Park Marina Cove Pier 40 Newto Pier 25/26 wn Creek QUEENS Atlantic Ocean Striped bass Up to 4 meals/month Up to 1 meal/month Williamsburg Bridge Jamaica Bay (excluding The Battery Brooklyn Paerdegat Basin) y Bridge Greater than 25”, up Upper Long Island Sound Greater than 25”, DON’T Gowanus Canal to 1 meal/month; New York Lower New York Bay Weakfish EAT; Less than 25”, up to Newark BaKill Bay Less than 25”, up to 4 an Kull Canarsie Gateway National JFK Raritan Bay east of 1 meal/month V Airpor meals/month BROOKLYN Park Recreation Area Y Wolfe’s Pond Park Staten Island t Botanical Verrazano PAERDEGAT JAMAICA BASIN HEAD OF BA Garden Narrows BAY Crab or lobster FDR Bridge DON’T EAT DON’T EAT Victory Blvd. Floyd tomalley Boardwalk SHEEPSHEAD BAY Bennet LOWER Field CH thur Kill Y BEA Ar NEW YORK Bayswater Point Coney Island ROCKAWA Follow the FDA guidelines: ATEN ISLAND Area BAY State Park Other fish not listed ST y National Beach www.fda.gov/fishadvice Rockaway Point Gatewa Wolfe’s Recreation LONG ISLAND SOUTH SHORE Pond Park Paerdegat Basin (and RARITAN BAY ATLANTIC OCEAN 200 yards from its All fish, All crabs DON’T EAT DON’T EAT Conference mouth) in Jamaica Bay* House Park The waters listed in the table (page 5) are bolded on this map. * The advice for Paerdegat Basin was issued in response to a spill that led to discharges of PCB containing material Common Fish in NYS Marine Waters in the Basin. An environmental investigation is underway to determine if there is residual contamination in the Basin. Please check www.health.ny.gov/fish to see whether this advice is still in effect. Check the DEC website for regulations and special restrictions for certain species: www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/fishing.html. American eel Black sea bass Bluefish Dogfish Please note that all fresh water bodies in New York City parks are catch and release only and are not regularly monitored for contaminants. For more information visit: http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/special-regulations-waters-new-york-city/ The public is also reminded that all New York City waters are closed to shellfishing (harvest of Porgy Sea robin Striped bass Summer flounder clams, mussels, oysters, or scallops). For information about shellfishing in Long Island waters, visit www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/345.html.