The Madison Environmental
Justice Organization (MEJO) has a mission to educate the community about
environmental justice issues, work to address them, and support
environmental justice for the benefit of the general public.
We have been working with people of
color and low-income residents for more than two years discussing toxins
in locally-caught fish, and learning about cultural practices regarding
fishing and preparing and eating fish.
Due to mercury and PCB levels in fish,
the State of Wisconsin has issued fish
advisory warnings regarding toxins to anglers and those who eat locally
caught fish from inland Wisconsin
waters. Yet fish advisory information is little known or unknown to many
anglers.
Levels of mercury, PCBs and other
toxins that concentrate in fish are a known public health hazard.
Shoreline anglers catch and consume many pan fish that may have lower
toxin levels than larger fish, but when consumed in high quantities they
may exceed levels recommended to avoid negative health effects; they also
frequently catch and consume larger fish, which tend to have higher
concentrations of toxins.
Through our investigations, we have
learned that public agencies have very little data about local fish
consumption habits and toxin levels in locally caught fish and have
little interaction with local anglers and their families who eat large
amounts of locally caught fish.
Levels of mercury, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, and
other toxins are high enough in Dane County lake sediments and waters to
raise concerns that people may need to limit their consumption of fish
caught in these waters because these compounds build up in fish tissue,
which humans consume (see the “Data Collection” section below).
Women of childbearing age, pregnant
women and children are especially at risk for developmental, neurological
and long term health problems from exposure to toxins present in locally
caught fish. The environmental impacts of pollution on low-income and
minority citizens are often unknown or underestimated because of a lack
of data collection, and lack of consideration of these populations in
determining public policy. This reality is a key component of
environmental justice.
The common good and sound public health
policy is served by informing anglers and others of potential risks
associated with consuming many kinds of locally caught fish.
We recommend that fish consumption
advisory information be better communicated, especially to low-income and
color communities, through permanent, laminated metal signs at popular
publicly-accessible shoreline fishing locations, in Hmong, Spanish and
English.
~~~~~~~
MEJO has interviewed 129 people
and held 12 focus group meetings with 150 participants over the past two
years. The meetings were held at neighborhood centers, agency facilities
and public locations such as Brittingham
Park. Interview
were held in the same locations, plus food pantries and shoreline fishing
spots. Most participants are low income, minority and fish locally or eat
locally caught fish caught by members of their family
We learned the following:
• Most people are unaware of fish
consumption advisories, and no one had seen the DNR booklet or the DHFS
brochure about them. (These two documents are the primary educational
method used by the State of Wisconsin.)
• Many people eat large numbers of fish
weekly, especially during fishing season (which can extend from April
into October). The annual average number of fish meals consumed by
families is 2.8 per week. For African Americans, 2.3 fish meals per week;
Hmong 3.6 fish meals per week; Latino 3.9 fish meals per week; and White
1.5 fish meals per week. Many people eat 10 or more fish meals per week,
with some eating fish at every meal, every day.
• The most popular shoreline fishing locations are around Lake Monona and
Lake Mendota, with two-thirds of respondents saying they fish along these
lakes. Almost fifty percent said they fish Monona
Bay in Brittingham Park.
Other top fishing spots are Tenney
Park (Lagoon and Yahara River),
Cherokee Marsh (Cherokee Lake and Cherokee Marsh/Yahara River at State Highway
113/ Northport Drive),
Lake Wingra
and the Wisconsin River (mostly in Sauk City).
• Hmong prefer white bass, which is a
smaller game fish that can have higher levels of some contaminants, but
which is not identified on the DHFS brochure and is rarely tested for
contaminates by the DNR.
• African Americans prefer catfish
(while many others also like to eat catfish). Catfish can have higher
levels of some contaminants (especially PCBs), but which is not
identified on the DHFS brochure and is rarely tested for contaminates by
the DNR.
• Awareness of mercury, PCBs and other
contaminants in the water and fish is low, with little understanding of
the pollution cycle.
• Most people are unaware that trimming
fat and removing the skin will help reduce PCBs in the cooked fish, or
that mercury is in the muscle tissue and cannot be removed at all.
• Many people do not fillet fish.
Leaving the skin on, not removing fat and using fish heads in soups are
all common practices which lead to greater exposure to many contaminants.
• When shown the DHFS brochure (in English,
Spanish or Hmong), many people did not find the fish they ate and
therefore erroneously assumed that those fish are okay to eat (meaning
they think no advisory exists for those fish).
• People thought fish consumption
advisory signs at shoreline fishing locations would be beneficial.
"Environmental
justice, fishing
and the
problem with our lakes"
A Public Forum by the
Madison Environmental
Justice Organization
Monday, May 5
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Madison Central Library
201 W. Mifflin St. (1 block from Capitol Square)
Fishing is part of every
cultural heritage. Here in Wisconsin ice
fishing, trout fishing in streams and fishing from boats on one of the
state's 14,000 lakes are common images. Less common to
many people is the image of someone fishing from the railroad tracks that
cross Monona Bay, along the bike path wall at Monona
Terrace, and at the Tenney
Park lagoon or
Warner Beach.
Yet shoreline fishing in the
Madison
area is a great, inexpensive pastime for many people, especially people
of color and the poor. And the fish--panfish,
white bass, catfish, carp--are a welcome and
often much-needed fresh food source on many people's plates.
Herein lays a problem.
Due to toxins in the lakes,
locally caught fish contain mercury, PCBs, PAHs, lead, pesticides,
pharmaceuticals and other poisons. Anyone who eats fish needs to be aware
of these concerns and make smart decisions regarding how many and which
kinds of fish to eat.
And all of us need to think
of "cleaning up the lakes" as addressing the toxins that are in
the sediment, water, fish and other aquatic life.
Join us at our Forum as we
look at the situation and discuss ideas how to make the lakes cleaner and
eating fish an always healthy food choice.
Info: www.mejo.us ~ 608.240.1485
"Justicia
ambiental, la pesca y problemas con nuestros lagos"
Coordinado por la Organizacion
de Justicia
Ambiental
de Madison
Lunes el 5 de mayo
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Biblioteca
Publica
Central
201 W. Mifflin St. (una cuadra del
capitolio)
La pesca es patrimonio cultural de
cada civilización. Aquí en Wisconsin la pesca en el hielo , la pesca
de trucha en los arroyos y la pesca en bote en uno de los 14, 000
lagos que posee el estado es una imágen común. Menos común para la mayoría,
es la imágen de alguien que pesca desde la vía del
ferrocarril que cruza la bahía del lago Monona, también
a lo largo del camino para las bicicletas junto al Centro de
convenciones Monona Terrace, en la laguna del parque de Tenney o la
playa del parque Warner.
La pesca en la playas en el área de Madison
es un pasatiempo importante y barato para mucha gente, especialmente para
la gente de color y los pobres. Peces como la carpa, la morraja, el
siluro y pez gato son un recurso de comida fresca en la mesa
de muchas personas.
Aquí esta el problema:
Debido a las tóxinas en los lagos, los peces
capturados contienen mercurio, PCBs, PAHs, plomo, pesticidas,
productos farmacéuticos y otros venenos.Cualquier persona que consume
pescado debe estar enterada de ello y tomar decisiones inteligentes sobre
cuántos y qué clase de peces come.
Cada uno de nosotros necesita pensar en la
"limpieza de los lagos " ,así como también en las tóxinas que
contiene el agua, los peces y otro tipo de vida acuática.
Acompañanos en nuestro foro para analizar
esta problemática , sugerir ideas para limpiar los lagos y hacer el
hábito de consumir pescado saludable y seguro
www.mejo.us ~
608.906.2143
“Saib Ncig Peb Qabvag Tsibtaug Kom Muaj Kev Ncav
Ncees, Kev Nuv Ntses Thiab Muaj Ntau Yam Teeb Meem Nrog Peb Cov Pas Dej”
Tus
tos txais yog Madison Environmental Justice Organization
Hnub Monday, Tsib hlis tim 5
Taum 7 Teev Tsaus Ntuj (7:00 – 8:30 pm)
Madison Central Library
201 W. Mifflin St. (1 blov los
ntawm lub nthug tsev dawb)
Nuv
ntses yog ib txoj kev cai txhua leej txhua tus txawj thiab kaw siv los ib
tiam dhau ib tiam. Nyob hauv Wisconsin
neeg nuv ntses txhua qhov. Qhov nyob ncaj ke ces yog qhov coj pom neeg
nuv ntses heev yam li lub caib ntujnaw daus nuv ntses, hauv tus dej teeg,
thiab tsav nkoj nuv ntses hauv ib lub pas dej ntawm 14,000 lub pas dej
nyob hauv lub xeev no. Qhov nyob ncaim ke yog qhov coj tsis tshua pom
neeg nuv ntses yam li yog raws tus ciav tsheb hlau ncig Monona Bay,
raws txoj kab tsheb kauj vab Monona Terrace, pas dej Tenney Park,
thiab raws ntug dej Warmer
Beach.
Rawm
pom tias nuv ntses ncig lub zos Madison
zoo heev, pheej yig thiab nyob zes tsev, seem rau cov neeg txawv nqaij
tawv dub, daj, thiab cov neeg pluag. Cov pas dej ncig zos no muaj cov
ntses lauj kaub(panfish), ntses dawb(white bass), ntses tuaj kub(cat
fish), ntses pam nais(carp). Cov ntses muaj npe tas no yawg cov ntses
sawv daws nyiam nuv ntau dua thiab yog yam nqaij ntses tshiab coob tus
coj los tso saum rooj ua nqaij noj.
Tab
sis muaj teeb meem.
Muaj
ntau yam tshuaj pem nyob hauv pas dej. Cov ntses nuv tau hauv cov pas dej
nyob ze zos no muaj hlau mercury, PCB, PAH’s lead, pesticides(tshuaj tua
kab), pharmaceuticals, thiab lwm yam kab mob . Yog leej twg noj cov nqiaj
ntses nyob hauv cov pas dej no. Yuav tsum ceev faj txog kev txhawj xeeb
cov kuv hais tag los no. Thiaj txiav txim siab tau tias yam nqaij ntses
twg pes tsawg tus mam noj.
Tas
nro peb txhua tus xav tau “yuav tsum tu thiab kho cov pas dej” thiaj li
yog ib qho pib hauv pau kom cov tshuaj (toxins) nyob hauv qab pas dej,
hav dej, ntses, thiab lwm yam tsiaj huv si mus yag tom tej.
Tuaj
koom siab nrog peb lub Rooj Sablaj(Forum) peb sawv
daws sib pab tawm tswb yim tu kho cov pas dej kom huv thiab noj nqiaj
ntses thiaj li yog khoom noj huv si mus yav tom ntej.
Xav paub ntxiv: www.mejo.us; 608-241-4180
MEJO
supports Dane
County placing fish
advisory signs
to
protect public health
See News
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