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Fish advisory
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) in August 2018 issued precautionary fish consumption advisories for smallmouth bass and channel catfish in the downstream portion of the Nolichucky River in Cocke and Hamblen counties and in the downstream portion of the Pigeon River in Cocke County. “We made a promise to the public in 2018 to provide an update on the fish sampling data we collect from the Nolichucky and the Pigeon rivers in the fall,” Dodd said on Tuesday. “Today we are delivering on that promise, though the data indicate we need to continue with the advisories until future testing indicates levels recede to below the trigger point.” Those advisories were issued due to levels of mercury in fish exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration’s recommended trigger point of 0.3 parts per million. A precautionary advisory recommends that pregnant or nursing mothers and children avoid eating the fish species included in the advisory and that all others limit consumption to one meal per month. Other recreational activities such as boating, swimming, wading, and catch-and-release fishing carry no risk from mercury. “Because eating fish with elevated levels of mercury is a risk Tennesseans can avoid, we provide this information so that the fishing community can make informed choices about whether or not to consume the fish they catch,” explained Jennifer Dodd, director of TDEC’s Division of Water Resources. Today, the department is sharing with the public its most recent fish sampling data from the two rivers. A 0.3 trigger point was recommended by EPA/FDA in 2001, and was later incorporated into Tennessee’s water quality standards. According to the EPA, the global burning of coal is the most frequent reason for elevated levels of mercury in fish. The 2018 advisory for the Nolichucky River extended from the mouth of the Nolichucky on the French Broad River (Douglas Reservoir) upstream to the mouth of Bent Creek at mile 14.9. The advisory for the Pigeon River extended from the mouth of the Pigeon on the French Broad River upstream to Vinson Island where Interstate 40 crosses the river near mile 12.4. Fish collections on the Nolichucky River will resume this summer and fish collections on the Pigeon River will resume in this spring and summer.
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