Welcome to my inaugural EnviroGuy blog.
My goal is to help you cut through the complexities of environmental issues, tell you about the latest studies and trends and point to information you may be unaware of.
Credit: NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center
For starters, let's talk about chemicals in fish.
New Jersey recently unveiled its 2009 health advisories on eating fish, crabs and lobsters. The state's guide is on this state Department of Environmental Protection Web page.
In a nutshell, you are still advised to limit or avoid eating dozens of freshwater and saltwater species in New Jersey, depending on where you catch 'em, because they're contaminated by toxic mercury, dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The 2009 "Fish Smart, Eat Smart: A Guide to Health Advisories for Eating Fish and Crabs Caught in New Jersey Waters'' also has some new and revised information.
For example, you should not eat more than one meal a week of summer flounder - one of the most popular local fish - from these waters: the Raritan Bay Complex, which includes Raritan Bay, the tidal Raritan River (to the Rt. 1 bridge) and tidal portions of all tributaries; Sandy Hook Bay and Lower Bay; and the Atlantic Ocean from Sandy Hook to Sea Bright.
Summer flounder in those areas had PCB and mercury levels high enough to trigger health advisories, said Gary Buchanan, chief of the Natural Resources Science bureau in the DEP's Division of Science, Research and Technology.
But the chemical concentrations are relatively low compared with those found in striped bass and bluefish, he said.
"I would still say if you're going to eat fish from these areas,'' summer flounder is probably one of the better species to eat and you can eat 52 meals a year, he said.
By the way, since 2006, the state has advised people to eat no more than one meal a month of winter flounder from Raritan Bay and Hudson River/Upper New York Bay waters because of PCBs, according to the DEP.
For more information on the state's advisories and testing for contaminants in fish, etc., visit this DEP Web site.