What you should do

Watch what you eat

Canned tuna typically contains lower levels of mercury than frozen or fresh tuna. Light tuna typically contains lower levels of mercury than white (albacore) tuna. Avoid eating bass, pike, tilefish, king mackerel fish, and pickerel. Swordfish, shark, bluefish, striped bass, and freshwater fish (with the exception of stocked trout) that are caught in Rhode Island should also not be eaten. Although mercury levels in bluefish and striped bass are low, the Food and Drug Administration cautions against eating these fish because of the presence of other contaminants known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Limit black crappie and eel consumption to one meal per month. Eat smaller fish and vary the types of fish that you eat.

Watch where you fish

A study completed in 1998 indicated relatively high levels of mercury in fish from Barber Pond, Bowdish Reservoir, Curran Reservoir, Echo Lake, Indian Lake, and School House Pond. Preliminary assessments of fish from Mashapaug Pond indicated elevated levels of several contaminants, prompting further study of the body of water. With the exception of trout, do not eat fish from Yawgoog Pond, Windcheck Pond, Meadowbrook Pond, Quidnick Reservoir, the lower Woonasquatucket River and the Blackstone River. Catch-and-release fishing can still be enjoyed in Woonasquatucket River, Mashapaug Pond, and other urban rivers and ponds.

Fishers should be familiar with the results of mercury studies in Rhode Island waters. (more) Contact the health departments in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and other states to learn about mercury and safety issues related to fish consumption in those states.

Take special precautions if you are pregnant, or may become pregnant

Given the effects of mercury exposure on some fetuses, pregnant women and women who are planning pregnancies are particularly advised to not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish. However, seafood can be an important part of a balanced diet for pregnant women and women who may become pregnant. Such women can eat up to 12 ounces a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are low in mercury (a typical serving size for fish is three to six ounces). Some common fish that are low in mercury include shrimp, light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish. Pregnant women or women who may become pregnant should eat no more that six ounces of tuna per week.