MICHIGAN, USA — Last week, the Kalamazoo River Alliance issued a warning that no fish should be eaten if caught in Lake Allegan or in the stretch of the Kalamazoo River between the Allegan Dam and the Morrow Dam.
The warning was because of the high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in the fish, which are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds.
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and asked if these warnings should be cause for concern in other waterways.
"There's very few, very few options or species that are really 'do not eat.' It's more recommendations of a limited amount that you can eat and recommendations of, you know, who should eat what of certain species," said Scott Heintzelman, DNR Unit Manager for Central Michigan.
However, Heintzelman did say that fishers should still check and see if there are restrictions on eating caught fish in the waterway they are fishing. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) provides a guide with recommendations at Michigan.gov/EatSafeFish.
The guide includes lists of species in waterways all over the state and how much, if any, of a certain species of fish people can eat.
In addition to PCBs, other chemicals like mercury can be found in species of fish in the state.
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