Nearly One Year After VA Announces Mercury Advisories On Fish, Signs Up On 1 Of 2 Rivers Listed

[hatrack]

FRANKLIN—Nearly a year after the Virginia Health Department cautioned against eating large quantities of fish caught in area rivers, warning signs are finally up, at least on one of the two rivers.

Mercury concentrations in the Blackwater and Nottoway rivers led the department to recommend last August that people limit their consumption of fish caught in those rivers to no more than two 8-ounce servings of fish per month.

The state agency issued a press release announcing the advisory and offering tips to help reduce potential mercury exposure. But signs to be posted at popular riverside locations were slow to follow, according to Jeff Turner.

Turner, the leader of the Blackwater-Nottoway Riverkeeper Program, said he received about eight signs to be posted along the Blackwater late last month. None has arrived yet for the Nottoway.

“I pushed and pushed, and called and called” to get the signs, he said Monday. He has placed one sign at each Blackwater boat ramp, as well as others in areas that are popular for shore fishing.
“The main people I’m mostly worried about is people who subsidize their groceries with fish from the river,” he explained. The signs will help them know about the mercury situation, “and then they can make the decision themselves” whether to eat the fish they catch.

EDIT

http://www.tidewaternews.com/articles/2008/08/05/news/news88.txt