By CARL A. WINTER
Courier-Post Staff
TRENTON -- The state of New Jersey Wednesday warned against eating fish taken from the Delaware River and to limit consumption of catches from the Delaware Bay.
Studies by Delaware health officials found "elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)" in fish tissue. That led to their issuing a limited advisory last week, said Robert Shinn, state commissioner of environmental protection. Then Pennsylvania issued an even tougher warning.
Shinn's staff studied the data, and he decided to relay the advisories.
They do not include shellfish, said Thomas McCloy, chief of the DEPE bureau of marine fisheries. Those are covered by regular testing.
The last time New Jersey issued such an advisory for the Delaware River was in 1989, when it warned against channel catfish south of Trenton. McCloy said he cannot recall the last time so sweeping an advisory was issued for the entire river. But, he pointed out, these are advisories from two neighboring states which New Jersey is studying.
The state has also been warning against the mercury content of fish caught in certain lakes and ponds, but environmentalists have criticized its failure to issue a broader advisory.
PCBs -- organic chemicals the making of which was stopped in the United States in 1977 -- "have caused cancer in laboratory animals and are considered probable human carcinogens," said Health Commissioner Len Fishman.
The presence of the organic chemicals, once commonly used in electric transformers, reflect in part past disposal practices, because they take so long to break down in the environment, Shinn said. "Overall, however, the health of the Delaware Estuary has improved significantly during the past 20 years," he said.
"Because of the overall improved water quality, we have seen a resurgence in the number of fish," Shinn said. "But while they still serve as a good sporting fish, these fish should be thrown back."
Based on the advisory, limited consumption is being recommended for striped bass, channel and white catfish caught in the Delaware Bay south of Salem. Adults are advised to limit their consumption to five, eight-ounce meals a year. Children should not eat more than three, four-ounce meals of these fish per year.
But New Jersey also advises against eating any channel catfish, white catfish, striped bass and white perch in the river north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (opposite Salem) to the Pennsylvania line. It also warns about American eels caught in the river from the state line to Yardley, Pa., opposite Trenton.
