Number: 1987-20
WHEREAS, in several areas of the United States, sport fish are contaminated with toxic substances which may make them unfit for unlimited human consumption; and
WHEREAS, public health and natural resources agencies in these areas often issue sport fish consumption advisories to provide anglers with information about the health risks of eating contaminated sport fish; and
WHEREAS, for interstate waters the fish consumption advisories issued by the bordering states often give anglers inconsistent or conflicting advice; and
WHEREAS, these inconsistencies often result from the use of different methodologies for evaluating the human health significance of consuming contaminated sport fish; and
WHEREAS, fish consumption advisories for interstate and intrastate waters usually do not reflect the amount of fish consumed by anglers and do not consider the cumulative effects of contaminants present in sport fish; and
WHEREAS, inconsistent sport fish consumption advisories undermine the credibility of the advisories and do not provide anglers with the information needed to decide whether to eat their catch;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 19-22, 1987, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, urges public health agencies and natural resource agencies to coordinate the development and issuance of sound, consistent fish consumption advisories for interstate waters; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges agencies responsible for fish consumption advisories in interstate waters to agree upon a common methodology for evaluating the health risks of consuming contaminated sport fish and for developing accurate estimates of the amount of fish consumed by anglers. These methodologies should include the appropriate use of risk assessment techniques and reasonable assumptions of pollutant interactions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges state and federal pollution control agencies to base pollution controls, in part, on the potential effects of pollution on humans consuming fish which inhabit the polluted waters.