Laguna De Santa Rosa Fish Warning Issued

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- A state agency Thursday issued an advisory regarding the consumption of certain species of fish in the Laguna de Santa Rosa. The California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, OEHHA, issued safe eating advice of black bass species including common carp, fathead minnow, Sacramento blackfish and sunfish based on the levels of mercury and PCBs found in fish in the laguna west of Santa Rosa.

The Laguna de Santa Rosa advisory recommendations are among 100 other OEHHA advisories that provide specific, health-based fish consumption advice in the state's lakes, rivers, bays, reservoirs and the California coast.

The Laguna de Santa Rosa, a 22-mile long channel that forms the largest tributary of the Russian River. Its diamond-shaped wetland complex drains a 254-square mile watershed in the Santa Rosa plain from Sebastopol to the west, Windsor to the north, Cotati to the south and Santa Rosa to the
east.

The OEHHA advisory recommends women ages 18-45 and children 1-17 not eat black bass species. They may safely eat a maximum of three servings a week of fathead minnow, two servings a week of common carp or Sacramento blackfish or one servings a week of sunfish species.

Women 46 and older and men 18 and older may safely eat a maximum of seven total servings of fathead minnow, five weekly servings of Sacramento blackfish, three servings a week of common carp or one serving a week of black bass species.

A serving is an eight-ounce fillet measured before cooking.OEHHA director Dr. Lauren Seize said fish have nutrients that may reduce the risk of heart disease and are rich in protein.

"By following our guidelines for fish caught in the Laguna de Santa Rosa, people can safely eat fish low in chemical contaminants and enjoy the well-known health benefits of fish consumption," Zeise said in a news
release.

Methylmercury in fish can damage the brain and nervous system, especially in developing children and fetuses. The industrial chemical PCB found in spills, leaks and improper disposal could cause health problems
including cancer, the OEHHA said.

Kevin Munroe, executive director of the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, said the laguna has had water quality issues for decades and was considered "void of life" in the 1970s.

"It is now considered 'impaired' but there are still pollution and water quality challenges. We recommend not eating fish from the Laguna," Munroe said.

Some streams in the Laguna are fine for fishing, but not those that accept water runoff from roads, highways and parking lots, Munroe said.Munroe said the OEHHA is not saying all fish in the Laguna are unsafe.

"They are saying there are serious issues with pollution and water quality, but it's getting much better. We are halfway to restoring the Laguna to the health it was. Our goal is to restore the Laguna de Santa Rosa to be fishable one day," Munroe said.

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