Fish in South Dakota lakes and rivers are tested for metals, pesticides, and PCB's as a collaborative effort of the South Dakota Departments of Game, Fish & Parks, Environment & Natural Resources, and Health. Advisories are currently in effect in the following counties. Click on the links for details and consumption recommendations.
NOTE: Regarding fish from freshwater lakes, ponds, and streams where mercury levels are not currently known, the Environmental Protection Agency makes the following recommendation:
If you are pregnant or could become pregnant, are nursing a baby, or if you are feeding a young child, limit consumption of freshwater fish caught by family and friends to one meal per week. For adults one meal is six
ounces of cooked fish or eight ounces uncooked fish; for a young child one meal is two ounces cooked fish or
three ounces uncooked fish.
In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued advice on mercury in fish bought from stores
and restaurants, which includes ocean and coastal fish as well as other types of commercial fish. FDA advises
that women who are pregnant or could become pregnant, nursing mothers and young children not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish. FDA also advises that women of childbearing age and pregnant women
may eat an average of 12 ounces of fish purchased in stores and restaurants each week. Therefore, if in a
given week you eat 12 ounces of cooked fish from a store or restaurant, then do not eat fish caught by your family
or friends that week. This is important to keep the total level of methylmercury contributed by all fish at a low level
in your body.
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