(PORTLAND) Malheur County and Oregon Health Services (OHS) officials, in coordination with other affected state agencies, advise the public to limit the amount of fish eaten from the Owyhee Reservoir. The Owyhee River (upstream Jordon creek and downstream from the reservoir to the Snake River) is not included in today's advisory. Fishing from Jordon Creek and Antelope Reservoir remains prohibited due to high levels of mercury.

Today's advisory is based on several sampling surveys conducted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Oregon State University which detected high levels of mercury in several fish species throughout the Owyhee reservoir. Catherine Neumann, the toxicologist with Health Services said, "this advisory is necessary due to recent studies suggesting that the fetus, pregnant women and young children would be at an increased risk to adverse nervous system effects from repeated exposure to methylmercury in fish tissue at levels above 0.6 ppm."

Neumann said that the levels of mercury in fish from Owyhee Reservoir ranged between 0.65 - 1.77 ppm. Since mercury collects in edible portions of fish tissue, the only way to limit exposure is to reduce the amount of fish eaten from contaminated waterways. Therefore, OHS warns that pregnant women, nursing women and children up to 6 years of age should not consume any fish from this body of water. Children older than 6 years and healthy adults should limit their consumption of fish from Owyhee Reservoir to no more than one-half pound (eight ounces) of fish six times a year (approximately one meal every other month). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing this health standard.

The source of the mercury appears to be from natural geological mercury in the rocks and soils in this area, and possibly, past mining activities. Additional fish sampling surveys will be conducted by DEQ and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to further characterize the extent of mercury contamination.

Because sport fishing is a popular activity at Owyhee Reservoir, OHS and ODFW suggest that fishermen practice catch-and-release fishing. A catch-and-release approach allows fishermen to still enjoy fishing as a high-quality recreational experience, according to ODFW officials.

Some tips on releasing fish include:

• retrieve the catch quickly and release it immediately;
• keep the fish in water as much as possible;
• remove the hook or lure carefully;
• leave deeply swallowed bait hooks in the fish by cutting off the line;
• avoid squeezing the fish and if the fish does not swim away, help revive the fish.

The current fish advisory may need to be updated pending further sampling.