Air Pollution’s Threat To Fish and Game

Many people don’t realize that air pollution can be a threat to fish and game.  Mercury is a contaminant that we don’t want in our food chain.

People don’t realize how much fishermen and hunters want to preserve the environment and are avid conservationists. The reliance on foreign fuel is going to push us into using more domestically produced energy such as coal, natural gas, solar, wind and geothermal. We should work toward a win-win solution to eliminate mercury and arsenic emissions to protect our great fisheries so that our children can enjoy the smallmouth fishing we enjoy.ﾠ

Air pollution’s threat to fish

Trout, walleye and large and smallmouth bass all accumulate mercury in their flesh that can harm humans who eat too much of the fish. Mercury has been linked to organ and neurological damage and can cause developmental disorders in children exposed to …

“In the area of the Susquehanna River, where I like to fish, it used to be that the state advised you to eat no more than two meals (of smallmouth bass) a month. Now they have downgraded that to only one meal per month,” he said. Mr. Zygmunt showed off a framed photo of his grandson holding an 18-inch smallmouth bass he caught on the Susquehanna near Meshoppen.

Air pollution’s threat to fish is something we all need to worry about.  If the fish are contaminated, not only are we getting contaminated if we eat the fish but also, it is in the environment, where we get exposed on a daily basis.  Source