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Contaminants in Fish

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The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s (TDEC) Division of Water Pollution Control issues advisories for the consumption of fish from certain Tennessee waters. The following information is subject to change and was copied from TDEC’s site. Concerned individuals should visit TDEC’s site for more information about these advisories, bacteriological advisories, and tips on how to reduce risks from contaminated fish.

For specific information regarding aquatic contaminants or affected waters, contact:

TDEC’s Water Pollution Control Office
(615)532-0699
http://tn.gov/environment/wpc/publications/pdf/advisories.pdf

Fish Tissue Advisories (This list is subject to revision.)
WATERBODY	COUNTY	PORTION	POLLUTANT	COMMENTS
West Tennessee
Beech Reservoir	Henderson	Entirety (877 acres)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
Cypress Creek	Shelby	Entirety (7.7 miles)	Chlordane, Other Pesticides, PCBs	Do not eat the fish.
Loosahatchie River	Shelby	Hwy 14, Austin Peay Highway (Mile 0.0 – 17.0)	Chlordane, other Organics, Mercury	Do not eat the fish.
McKellar Lake	Shelby	Entirety (13 miles)	Chlordane, other Organics, Mercury	Do not eat the fish.
Mississippi River	Shelby	MS state line to just downstream of Meeman-Shelby State Park (31 miles)	Chlordane, other Organics, Mercury	Do not eat the fish. Commercial fishing prohibited by TWRA.
North Fork Forked Deer River	Dyer, Gibson	From mouth of the Middle Fork Forked Deer River (Mile 17.6) upstream to State Highway 188 (Mile 23.6)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
Nonconnah Creek	Shelby	From mouth to Kansas Street (Mile 0.0 – 1.8)	Chlordane, other Organics	Do not eat the fish. Advisory ends at Horn Lake Road bridge.
Wolf River	Shelby	From mouth to Germantown Road (Mile 0.0 – 18.9)	Chlordane, other Organics, Mercury	Do not eat the fish.
Middle Tennessee
Beech Creek	Wayne	From mouth to origin (Mile 16.7) including Tennessee River Embayment	Mercury	Do not eat the fish. Avoid contact with sediment between Leatherwood Branch and Smith Branch.
Buffalo River	Humphreys, Perry	From mouth upstream to Highway 438 (Mile 31.6)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for smallmouth bass.*
Duck River	Humphreys, Hickman	From mouth of Buffalo River (Mile 15.8) upstream to Interstate 40 (Mile 31.8)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass.*
Woods Reservoir	Franklin	Entirety (3,908 acres)	PCBs	Catfish should not be eaten.
East Tennessee
Boone Reservoir	Sullivan, Washington	Entirety (4,400 acres)	PCBs, Chlordane	Precautionary advisory for carp and catfish.*
Chattanooga Creek	Hamilton	From mouth to GA State line (11.9 miles)	PCBs, Chlordane	Fish should not be eaten. Also, avoid contact with water.
East Fork of Poplar Creek and Poplar Creek Embayment	Anderson, Roane	From mouth to New Hope Pond (Mile 0.0 – 15.0)	Mercury, PCBs	Fish should not be eaten. Also, avoid contact with water.
Emory River	Roane, Morgan	From Hwy 27 near Harriman (Mile 12.4) upstream to Camp Austin Road Bridge (Mile 21.8)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for all fish.*
Fort Loudoun Reservoir	Loudon, Blount	Entirety (14,600 acres)	PCBs Mercury (upper portion only)	Commercial fishing for catfish prohibited by TWRA. No catfish or largemouth bass over two pounds should be eaten. Do not eat largemouth bass from the Little River embayment. Due to mercury, precautionary advisory for any sized largemouth bass from Highway 129 to the confluence of Holston and French Broad rivers (534 acres).*
French Broad River	Cocke	From Rankin Bridge (Mile 71.4) to Hwy 321 near Newport (Mile 77.5)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
Hiwassee River	Meigs, McMinn, Bradley	From Hwy 58 (Mile 7.4) upstream to the railroad bridge just upstream of U.S. Hwy 11 (Mile 18.9)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
Holston River	Sullivan, Hawkins	From the mouth of Poor Valley Creek embayment (Mile 89.0) upstream to confluence of the North and South Forks of the Holston near Kingsport (Mile 142.3)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for all fish.*
Melton Hill Reservoir	Knox, Anderson	Entirety (5,690 acres)	PCBs	Catfish should not be eaten.
Nickjack Reservoir	Hamilton, Marion	Entirety (10,370 acres)	PCBs	Precautionary advisory for catfish.*
Norris Reservoir	Campbell, Anderson, Union, Claiborne, Grainger	Clinch River portion (Powell River embayment not included in advisory) (15,213 acres)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass, striped bass, smallmouth bass, and sauger.*
North Fork Holston River	Sullivan, Hawkins	VA Stateline (Mile 0.0 – 6.2)	Mercury	Do not eat the fish. Advisory goes to TN/VA line.
Sequatchie River	Marion	From the Tennessee River (Mile 0.0) upstream to State Highway 283 near Whitwell (Mile 22.1)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
South Holston Reservoir	Sullivan	Portion within Tennessee (7,206 acres)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
Tellico Reservoir	Loudon, Monroe	Entirety (16,500 acres)	PCBs, Mercury	Catfish should not be eaten.
Watauga Reservoir	Carter, Johnson	Entirety (6,427 acres)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass and channel catfish.*
Watts Bar Reservoir	Roane, Meigs, Rhea, Loudon	Tennessee River portion (38,000 acres)	PCBs	Catfish, striped bass, and hybrid (striped bass-white bass) should not be eaten. Precautionary advisory for white bass, sauger, carp, smallmouth buffalo, and largemouth bass.*
Watts Bar Reservoir	Roane, Anderson	Clinch River Arm (1,000 acres)	PCBs	Striped bass should not be eaten. Precautionary advisory for catfish and sauger.*
*Precautionary Advisory: Children, women who might become pregnant, pregnant women, and nursing mothers should not consume the fish species named. All other persons should limit consumption of the named species to one meal per month.

Regulations in red are new this year.

Purple text indicates an important note.