The advisories identify types of fish or other aquatic animals that should be eaten in limited quantities or, in some cases, avoided altogether because of contamination.
General advice and internet resources are provided to aid the public in making informed decisions regarding the benefits and the risks associated with eating locally caught fish from Kansas waters.
Bottom-feeding fish: buffaloes, carps, catfishes, sturgeons and suckers.
Shellfish: mussels, clams and crayfish.
Serving size (skinless fish fillets before cooking):
Adults and children age 13 and older = 8 ounces
Children age 6 to 12 = 4 ounces
Children younger than 6 = 2 ounces
Getting outside to catch fish and eating fish has many health benefits, but all fish contain some amount of mercury. Anyone who routinely eats fish or serves fish to their children should carefully consider the types and amounts they eat, including store-bought fish.
Too much dietary mercury can harm the development of fetuses, nursing babies and growing children. Therefore, mercury-sensitive individuals (women who are pregnant, nursing or may become pregnant, and children younger than 17 years old) should follow the guidelines presented below for eating fish caught in Kansas.
Fishing and Eating Guidelines:
Eat smaller portions – a fillet about the size of your palm.
Eat types of fish with less mercury.
If you don't know the type or size of fish you are eating, wait at least a week before eating fish again.
When fishing, keep fish shorter than your forearm (fingertips to elbow) or less than 20 inches as regulations allow.
Kansas recommends restricting consumption of bottom-feeding fish and catfishes to one serving per week from the following locations because of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs):
Cow Creek in Hutchinson and downstream to the confluence with the Arkansas River (Reno County).
Kansas River from Lawrence (below Bowersock Dam) downstream to Eudora at the confluence of the Wakarusa River (Douglas and Leavenworth Counties).
Little Arkansas River from the Main Street Bridge immediately west of Valley Center to the confluence with the Arkansas River in Wichita (Sedgwick County).
Kansas recommends restricting consumption of bottom-feeding fish and catfishes to one serving per month from the following location because of PCBs:
K-96 Lake in Wichita (Sedgwick County).
Kansas recommends not eating specified fish or aquatic life from the following locations:
Arkansas River from the Lincoln Street dam in Wichita downstream to the confluence with Cowskin Creek near Belle Plaine (Sedgwick and Sumner Counties); bottom-feeding fish and catfishes due to PCBs.
Shoal Creek from the Missouri/Kansas border to Empire Lake (Cherokee County); shellfish due to lead and cadmium.
Spring River from the confluence of Center Creek to the Kansas/Oklahoma border (Cherokee County); shellfish due to lead and cadmium.
Antioch Park Lake South in Antioch Park, Overland Park (Johnson County); all fish due to pesticides dieldrin, heptachlor epoxide, chlordane and dichlorophenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs).
Arkalon Park Lakes in Liberal (Seward County) – Kansas recommends not eating any aquatic life because the lakes are sustained solely by treated municipal wastewater. ■