Advisories: What Not to Eat?

A consumption advisory is a recommendation to limit or avoid eating certain species of fish or shellfish caught from specific water bodies or types of water bodies (e.g., lakes, rivers or coastal waters) due to chemical contamination.

Advisories may be issued for the general public or for specific groups of people at risk, such as:

• High consumers of fish

  

• The elderly
• Pregnant women
• Nursing mothers
• Children

An advisory about fish from a specific waterbody or type of waterbody may address more than one affected fish species or chemical contaminant.

National Listing of Fish Advisories

EPA maintains a national database of fish and shellfish advisories issued by states.

• National Listing of Fish Advisories Questions and Answers
• General Fact Sheet
• Search for Advisories Where You Live

National FDA-EPA Mercury Advisory

• Advisory on Mercury in Fish and Shellfish

Guidelines: What is Safe to Eat?

A fish being held in two hands

Because fish and shellfish are such an important part of a healthy diet, EPA encourages states to issue safe eating guidelines to let people know what species are safe to eat. Safe eating guidelines let the public know when there are no limits on eating specific fish species.

These guidelines are developed based on data from fish that have been tested for chemical contamination and are found to be safe to eat. Like fish consumption advisories safe eating guidelines are issued for specific fish species from specific water bodies or types of water bodies by state and local agencies.

• Federal, State, Local and Tribal Contact Information

Contaminants: What is of Concern?

Chemical Contaminants

Most advisories are based on contamination from five toxins that persist for long periods of time in sediments at the bottom of certain water bodies:

• Mercury
• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
  

  Scientist working with contaminants
• Chlordane
• Dioxins
• Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT)

Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury, no matter what body of water they come from. The risk from consuming mercury by eating fish and shellfish may include harm to an unborn baby or a young child's developing nervous system.

The 2014 Draft EPA-Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory informs the following individuals about how to get the positive health benefits from eating fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury, while being aware of the risks from eating fish that may contain higher concentrations of mercury:

• Women who may become pregnant
• Pregnant women
• Nursing mothers
• The parents of young children

This Draft Advisory is an update to the existing Advisory issued in 2004.

• EPA-FDA Advisory on Mercury in Fish and Shellfish

Bacteria, Viruses and Pollutants in Shellfish

Certain disease-causing bacteria, viruses and other pathogens can contaminate seafood causing foodborne illness. The FDA leads the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) and the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC)Exit which were formed to promote and improve the sanitation of shellfish. Here’s how EPA's programs relate to the National Shellfish Sanitation Program.

By working collaboratively with state and federal agencies, the shellfish industry and the academic community, these organizations ensure the sanitary control of shellfish produced and sold for human consumption.

Harmful Algal Blooms

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), also known as a red tide, are the proliferation of toxic nuisance algae that harm natural resources and humans, including people getting sick or dying from eating contaminated seafood. Currently 85 toxic microalgal species have been documented. For more information on HABs, please see nutrient pollution.