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Pennsylvania

Fishing

Fishing

Fish Consumption Advisories

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public Health Advisory Fish Consumption

For the most current advisories, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Fish Consumption Advisory page.

Health Benefits of Eating Fish

Fish are nutritious and good to eat. Fish are low in fat, high in protein and provide substantial human health benefits. Fish provide valuable vitamins and minerals and beneficial oils that are low in saturated fat. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are also beneficial, particularly in terms of cardiovascular health. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that consumers eat a balanced diet, choosing a variety of foods including fruits and vegetables, foods that are low in trans fat and saturated fat, as well as foods rich in high fiber grains and nutrients. A diet that includes a variety of fish and shellfish can be an important part of a balanced healthy diet. The United States FDA, EPA, the American Heart Association and other nutrition experts recommend eating two meals (12 oz.) of fish per week. By following these advisories, you should feel comfortable making one of those meals (up to 8 oz.) a recreationally caught Pennsylvania sport fish.

Contaminants in Fish

While most recreationally caught sport fish in Pennsylvania are safe to eat, chemicals, such as heavy metals, PCBs, PFAS and pesticides, have been found in some fish from certain waters. While the levels of unavoidable chemical contaminants are usually low, there can be potential health concerns to pregnant and breast-feeding women, women of childbearing age, children and individuals whose diet consists of a high percentage of fish.

The same contaminants found in fish tissue tend to be persistent and can build up in your body over time. It may take months or years of regularly eating contaminated fish to build up amounts that are a health concern. Health problems that may result from the contaminants found in fish range from small changes in health that are hard to detect to birth defects and cancer. Mothers who eat highly contaminated fish for many years before becoming pregnant may have children who are slower to develop and learn. The meal advice in this advisory is intended to protect children from these potential developmental problems. Adults are less likely to have health problems at the low levels that affect children. If you follow this advisory over your lifetime, you will minimize your exposure and reduce health risks associated with contaminants in fish.

Snapping Turtle Consumption Advice

Snapping Turtle meat has been found to contain only small amounts of PCBs and is safe to eat without restrictions. Snapping Turtles do retain PCBs in their fat and internal organs. If you choose to eat Snapping Turtles, you can reduce your exposure by carefully trimming away all fat and internal organs and discarding them before cooking the meat or making soup.

Introduction to Fish Consumption Advisories

We are not recommending that you stop eating sport caught fish, except where “Do Not Eat” is shown. When properly prepared, eating fish regularly offers important health benefits as a good choice to replace high fat foods. You will gain benefits if you follow the sport fish consumption advisory carefully to: consume safer species of fish, trim and cook your catch correctly and follow the recommended meal frequencies. Using this advice, you will reduce your exposure to possible contaminants.

Consumption advisories provide guidance to individuals or segments of the population who are at greater risk from exposure to contaminants in fish. Advisories are not regulatory standards but recommendations intended to provide additional information to high-risk groups. These advisories apply only to recreationally caught sport fish in Pennsylvania, not commercial fish. The FDA establishes the legal standards for contaminants in food sold commercially including fish.

Statewide Advisory

Pennsylvania has issued a general, statewide health advisory for recreationally caught sport fish: eat no more than one meal (1/2 pound) per week of sport fish caught in the state’s waterways. This general advice was issued to protect against eating large amounts of fish that have not been tested or that may contain unidentified contaminants.

How to Use this Advisory

Follow the general, statewide one meal per week advisory to limit your exposure to contaminants. To determine if more protective advice applies to the fish you have caught, find the locations and species of fish you’ve caught in the tables that follow. Find the meal advice for the waterbody and fish species you’ve caught. “Do Not Eat” means no one should eat those fish because of high contamination. The other groups are advice for how often to eat a fish meal.

One meal is assumed to be 1/2 pound of fish (8 oz. before cooking) for a 150-pound person. The meal advice is equally protective for larger people who eat larger meals and smaller people who eat smaller meals.

People who regularly eat sport fish, women of childbearing age and children are particularly susceptible to contaminants that build up over time. If you fall into one of these categories, you should be careful to space fish meals out according to the advisory tables that follow. Your body can get rid of some contaminants over time. Spacing the meals out helps prevent the contaminants from building up to harmful levels in the body. For example, if the fish you eat is in the one meal a month group, wait a month before eating another meal of fish from any restricted category.

Women beyond their childbearing years and men generally face fewer health risks from these contaminants. However, it is recommended that you also follow the advisory to reduce your total exposure to contaminants. For these groups, it is the total number of meals that you eat during the year that becomes important and many of those meals can be eaten during a few months of the year. If most of the fish you eat are from the one meal a month category, you should not exceed 12 meals per year.

Sometimes, anglers catch fish with external growths, sores or other lesions. Such abnormalities generally result from viral or bacterial infections and may occasionally be caused by exposure to certain chemical contaminants. The appearance of viral or bacterial infections in fish may be unsightly, but there is no evidence to suggest that these infections pose a threat to consumers of these fish. Whether or not to eat such fish is a matter of personal choice.

Cleaning and Cooking Your Fish

PCBs and most other organic contaminants usually build up in a fish’s fat deposits and just underneath the skin. By removing the skin and fat before cooking, you can reduce the levels of these chemicals. Mercury, however, collects in the fish’s muscle and cannot be reduced by cleaning and cooking methods. To reduce PCBs and other organics:

  • Remove all skin.
  • Slice off fat belly meat along the bottom of the fish.
  • Cut away any fat above the fish’s backbone.
  • Cut away the V-shaped wedge of fat along the lateral line on each side of the fish.
  • Bake or broil trimmed fish on a rack or grill, so some of the remaining fat drips away.
  • Discard any drippings. Do not eat them or use them for cooking other foods or in preparing other sauces.
Diagram Showing How to Clean YourIllustrated diagram showing how to trim fatty areas from a fish fillet. Dotted lines mark sections to remove before cooking for cleaner, safer consumption.Fish Before Cooking for Pennsylvania Fish Consumption Advisories
Fish cleaning diagram identifying fatty areas to trim before cooking. Removing the dotted sections helps reduce exposure to contaminants often stored in fatty tissue. Best practices for preparing sport-caught fish for healthy meals.

Fish stocked from Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission state fish hatcheries are subject to the blanket one-meal-per-week consumption advisory that applies to recreationally caught sport fish in Pennsylvania.


2025 Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania Fish Consumption Advisories

Red icon indicating this is a new addition to the listing of stocked trout waters in Pennsylvania
– New Addition

DELAWARE RIVER BASIN

Water Body

Area Under Advisory

Species

Meal Frequency

Contaminant

Belmont Lake (Wayne Co.)

Entire lake

Rock Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Beltzville Lake (Beltzville State Park) (Carbon Co.)

Entire lake

Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury

Brady’s Lake (Monroe Co.)

Entire lake

Chain Pickerel

6 meals/year

Mercury

Yellow Perch

1 meal/month

Mercury

Broadhead Creek (Monroe Co.)

Entire basin

Rock Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Bushkill Creek (Monroe and Pike Cos.)

Entire basin

American Eel, All suckers

2 meals/month

Mercury

Chester Creek (Delaware and Chester Cos.)

Confluence of West Branch Chester Ck. to mouth

Channel Catfish, American Eel

2 meals/month

Mercury

Darby Creek (Delaware and Philadelphia Cos.)

Entire basin upstream of Rt. 13

Channel Catfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Red icon indicating this is a new addition to the listing of stocked trout waters in Pennsylvania
Darby Creek (Delaware and Philadelphia Cos.)

Entire basin downstream of Rt. 13 including Cobbs Creek. Based on advisories from EPA.

All species

Do Not Eat

PCB, Pesticides, Metals

Delaware River

Source to Trenton, NJ-Morrisville, PA bridge

Rock Bass, Walleye over 17”

2 meals/month

Mercury

Smallmouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Delaware Estuary including the tidal portion of all PA tributaries and the Schuylkill River to the Fairmount Dam (Bucks, Philadelphia and Delaware Cos.)

Trenton, NJ-Morrisville, PA Bridge to PA/DE border

White Perch, Flathead Catfish, Channel Catfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Striped Bass: over 28”

1 meal/month

PCB

Carp

6 meals/year

PCB

American Eel

Do Not Eat

PCB

Hickory Lake (Wayne Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake Maskenozha (Pike Co.)

Entire lake

Yellow Perch

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake Towhee (Bucks Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake Wallenpaupack (Pike and Wayne Cos.)

Entire lake

Walleye

1 meal/month

Mercury

Lehigh River (Northampton Co.)

Confluence of Saucon Creek to mouth

Carp, American Eel

1 meal/month

PCB

Little Bushkill Creek (Pike Co.)

Lake Maskenozha to mouth

American Eel

2 meals/month

Mercury

Long Pond (Wayne Co.)

Entire lake

Walleye

1 meal/month

Mercury

Marsh Creek Lake (Chester Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Miller Pond (Wayne Co.)

Entire lake

Chain Pickerel, Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Yellow Perch

2 meals/month

Mercury

Neshaminy Creek (Montgomery and Bucks Cos.)

Entire basin

All species

Do Not Eat

PFOS

Pennypack Creek (Montgomery and Philadelphia Cos.)

Entire basin

American Eel

1 meal/month

PCB

Promised Land Lake (Promised Land State Park) (Pike Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Prompton Reservoir (West Branch Lackawaxen River) (Wayne Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury

Red Clay Creek (Chester Co.)

Entire basin

All species

3 meals/year

PCB, DDT, Dioxins,

Chlorinated-

Pesticides

Schuylkill River (Schuylkill Co.)

Confluence of Mill Creek at Port Carbon to Auburn Dam

Trout

1 meal/month

PCB

Schuylkill River (Schuylkill and Berks Cos.)

Confluence of Mahannon Creek at Landingville to Kernsville Dam

Brown Bullhead, All suckers

1 meal/month

PCB

Schuylkill River (Berks Co.)

Kernsville Dam to Maiden Creek

All suckers

1 meal/month

PCB

Schuylkill River (Berks, Chester and Montgomery Cos.)

Confluence of Maiden Creek to Black Rock Dam above Phoenixville

All suckers

1 meal/month

PCB

Carp, Channel Catfish

6 meals/year

PCB

Schuylkill River (Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia Cos.)

Black Rock Dam to Fairmount Dam in Philadelphia

Carp, American Eel

Do Not Eat

PCB

All suckers, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Corbicula (clam*)

1 meal/month

PCB

Schuylkill River (Berks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia Cos.)

Confluence of Maiden Creek to Fairmount Dam

American Eel

Do Not Eat

PCB

All suckers

1 meal/mouth

PCB

Shohola Lake (Pike Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Stairway Pond (Pike Co.)

Entire pond

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Tobyhanna Creek (Carbon and Monroe Cos.)

Pocono Lake Dam to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

West Branch Brandywine Creek (Chester Co.)

From business Rt. 30 (Lincoln Highway) in Coatesville to confluence of Buck Run

American Eel

1 meal/month

PCB

West Branch Schuylkill River (Schuylkill Co.)

Entire basin

Brook Trout

1 meal/month

PCB

White Clay Creek (Chester Co.)

Entire basin

American Eel

2 meals/month

Mercury

White Oak Pond Lake (Wayne Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN

Water Body

Area Under Advisory

Species

Meal Frequency

Contaminant

Beechwood Lake (Tioga Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

1 meals/month

Mercury

Black Moshannon State Park Lake (Centre Co.)

Entire lake

Chain Pickerel, Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Bearwallow Pond (Sullivan Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass, Chain Pickerel

2 meals/month

Mercury

Chemung River (Bradford Co.)

NY/PA border to mouth

Channel Catfish

2 meals/month

Mercury

Smallmouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Conestoga River (Lancaster Co.)

Slackwater to mouth

Rock Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Cowanesque River and Reservoir (Tioga Co.)

Cowanesque River mouth to PA/NY border

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Black Crappie, Yellow Perch, Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Elk Lake (Sullivan Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass, Chain Pickerel

2 meals/month

Mercury

First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek-George B. Stevenson Dam (Sinnemahoning State Park) (Cameron and Potter Cos.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek (Cameron Co.)

George B. Stevenson Dam to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Francis Slocum Lake (Luzerne Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Hamilton Lake (Tioga Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Hammond Lake (Tioga Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

1 meals/month

Mercury

Hunters Lake (Sullivan Co.)

Entire lake

All species

2 meals/month

Mercury

Jacks Creek (Mifflin Co.)

Paintersville Bridge to mouth

Bluegill, Rock Bass, Fallfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Kettle Creek Lake (Kettle Creek State Park) (Clinton Co.)

Entire lake

Black Crappie, Yellow Perch

2 meals/month

Mercury

Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Kettle Creek (Clinton Co.)

Alvin R. Bush Dam to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lackawanna Lake (Lackawanna State Park) (Lackawanna Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake Jean (UNT Kitchen Creek) (Ricketts Glen State Park) (Sullivan and Luzerne Cos.)

Entire lake

Chain Pickerel, Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Yellow Perch

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake Makoma (Mill Creek) (Sullivan Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake Winola (Wyoming Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Laurel Lake (Cumberland Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lily Lake (Luzerne Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Little Pine Creek (Lycoming Co.)

Entire basin

Yellow Perch

2 meals/month

Mercury

Logan Branch (Centre Co.)

Axemann to mouth

Brown Trout

1 meal/month

PCB

Lopez Pond (Sullivan Co.)

Entire lake

Yellow Perch

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lyman Run Reservoir (Potter Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Maple Lake (Lackawanna Co.)

Entire lake

Chain Pickerel

2 meals/month

Mercury

McWilliams Reservoir (Northumberland and Columbia Cos.)

Entire reservoir

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Mountain Mud Pond (Merli-Sarnoski Park)(Lackawanna Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Pine Creek (Tioga Co.)

Confluence of Painter Run to confluence of Fourmile Run near Colton Point State Park

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Poe Lake (Centre Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Shumans Lake (Loyalsock Creek) (Sullivan Co.)

Entire lake

Chain Pickerel

2 meals/month

Mercury

Silver Lake (Susquehanna Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Steven Foster Lake (Bradford Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Sugar Creek (Bradford Co.)

Confluence of Bailey Run to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Sunfish Pond (Bradford Co.)

Entire pond

Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch

2 meals/month

Mercury

Susquehanna River (Susquehanna Co.)

Entire section in PA from the NY border above Starrucca Creek to the NY border below Great Bend

Smallmouth Bass, Fallfish

2 meals/month

Mercury

Susquehanna River (Bradford and Wyoming Cos.)

NY border above Sayre to PA Route 92 bridge at Falls

Walleye

1 meal/month

Mercury

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Channel Catfish, Carp

1 meal/month

PCB

Susquehanna River (Wyoming, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Northumberland and Montour Cos.)

PA Route 92 bridge at Falls to confluence with West Branch

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Channel Catfish, Quillback, Carp, Walleye

1 meal/month

PCB

Susquehanna River (Snyder, Northumberland, Juniata, Perry, Dauphin, Cumberland, York and Lancaster Cos.)

West Branch to PA/MD border

Channel Catfish over 20”,

1 meal/month

PCB

Flathead Catfish over 30”

Mercury, PCB

Tioga Reservoir (Tioga Co.)

Entire reservoir

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Towanda Creek (Bradford Co.)

Confluence of Schrader Creek to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Trindle Spring Run (locally Silver Spring Run) (Cumberland Co.)

Silver Spring Meeting House to mouth (approx. 1 mile)

All trout

1 meal/month

PCB

Tunkhannock Creek (Wyoming Co.)

Confluence of South Branch to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Tuscarora Creek (Juniata Co.)

SR 3008 bridge above Port Royal to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

West Branch Susquehanna River (Clinton, Lycoming, Union and Northumberland Cos.)

Bald Eagle Creek to confluence with Susquehanna River

Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury

White Deer Creek (Clinton, Centre and Union Cos.)

Entire basin

Brown Trout

2 meals/month

Mercury

Wyalusing Creek (Bradford Co.)

SR 0706 bridge at Camptown to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Yellow Breeches Creek (Cumberland Co.)

SR 3017 bridge at Huntsdale to confluence of Spruce Run

Brown Trout

1 meal/month

PCB

OHIO RIVER BASIN

Water Body

Area Under Advisory

Species

Meal Frequency

Contaminant

Allegheny River (McKean Co.)

Confluence of Potato Creek to PA/NY border

Smallmouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Allegheny Res. (Warren and McKean Cos.)

Entire lake

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Allegheny River (Warren, Forest, Venango,

Kinzua Dam to Lock & Dam 7

Smallmouth Bass, Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury
Clarion and Armstrong Cos.)

Allegheny River (Armstrong Co.)

Pool 6 - Lock & Dam 7 to Lock & Dam 6

Carp

1 meal/month

PCB

Allegheny River (Armstrong Co.)

Pool 5 - Lock & Dam 6 to Lock & Dam 5

Carp, Channel Catfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Allegheny River (Armstrong and Allegheny Cos.)

Pool 4 - Lock & Dam 5 to Lock & Dam 4

Carp, Channel Catfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Allegheny River (Allegheny Co.)

Pool 3 - Lock & Dam 4 to Lock & Dam 3

Carp, Channel Catfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Allegheny River (Allegheny Co.)

Pool 2 - Lock & Dam 3 to Lock & Dam 2

Carp, Channel Catfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Allegheny River (Allegheny Co.)

Lock & Dam 2 to Montgomery Lock & Dam on the Ohio River

See Ohio River (Allegheny and Beaver Cos.)

Beaver River (Lawrence and Beaver Cos.)

Confluence of Mahoning and Shenango Rivers to mouth

Carp

Do Not Eat

PCB

Smallmouth Bass, Channel Catfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Beaver Run Reservoir (Westmoreland Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Brokenstraw Creek (Warren Co.)

Confluence of Hare Creek to mouth

All suckers, Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Chapman Dam Reservoir (Warren Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Chartiers Creek and Little Chartiers Creek

(Allegheny and Washington Cos.)

Chartiers Creek - Canonsburg to mouth

Little Chartiers Creek - Canonsburg Lake Dam to mouth

Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

PCB

Carp

Do Not Eat

PCB

Smallmouth Bass

6 meals/year

PCB

Clarion River (Clarion Co.)

Confluence of Canoe Creek above Callensburg to confl. of Turkey Run

Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury

Clarion River (Clarion, Clearfield and Elk Cos.)

Entire basin upstream of Piney Dam

Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Conemaugh R. (Indiana and Westmoreland Cos.)

Conemaugh Lake Dam to mouth

Carp

1 meal/month

PCB

Conewango Creek (Warren Co.)

NY/PA border to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Conneaut Lake (Crawford Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Northern Pike

1 meal/month

Mercury

Crystal Lake (Crawford Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

1 meal/month

Mercury

Dunkard Creek (Greene Co.)

Confluence of Toms Run to confluence of Roberts Run

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Dunkard Creek (Greene Co.)

SR 2021 bridge to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

East Branch Lake (E. Br. Clarion R.) (Elk Co.)

Entire lake

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Eaton Reservoir (Erie Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass, Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury

Edinboro Lake (Erie Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

French Creek (Erie, Crawford, Mercer and Venango Cos.)

Entire mainstem

Smallmouth Bass, Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury

Geneva Swamp (Crawford Co.)

Entire marsh

Bowfin

1 meal/month

Mercury

Justus Lake (Venango Co.)

Entire lake

Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake Canadohta (Crawford Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass, Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake LeBoeuf (Erie Co.)

Entire lake

Muskellunge

1 meal/month

Mercury

Largemouth Bass, Carp

2 meals/month

Mercury

Lake Pleasant (Erie Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Mahoning River (Lawrence Co.)

Entire portion in PA

Smallmouth Bass

1 meal/month

PCB

Carp

6 meals/year

PCB

Channel Catfish

Do Not Eat

PCB

Monongahela River (Fayette and Greene Cos.)

Point Marion Lock & Dam to Maxwell Locks & Dam

Carp

1 meal/month

PCB

Monongahela River (Fayette and Washington Cos.)

Pool 4 - Maxwell Locks & Dam to Locks & Dam 4

Carp

1 meal/month

PCB

Monongahela River (Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland Cos.)

Pool 3 - Locks & Dam 4 to Locks & Dam 3

Carp

1 meal/month

PCB

Monongahela River (Allegheny Co.)

Pool 2 (Braddock Pool)- Locks & Dam 3 to Locks & Dam 2

Carp

1 meal/month

PCB

Monongahela River (Allegheny Co.)

From Locks & Dam 2 to the Montgomery Locks & Dam on the Ohio River

See Ohio River (Allegheny and Beaver Cos.)

Ohio River (Allegheny and Beaver Cos.)

From Lock & Dam 2 on the Monongahela River and Lock & Dam 2 on the Allegheny River to the Montgomery Lock & Dam Based on advisories issued by Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission

Freshwater Drum, Spotted Bass, Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie, Smallmouth Bass, White Crappie, Sauger, Walleye

1 meal/month

PCB

All suckers, Flathead Catfish, Hybrid-Striped Bass, White Bass, Channel Catfish

6 meals/year

PCB

Carp

Do Not Eat

PCB

Ohio River (Beaver Co.)

From Montgomery Locks & Dam to the state border. Based on recommendation from the Ohio River Consumption Advisory Workgroup

All suckers, Flathead Catfish, Black Crappie, White Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Sauger, Walleye, Freshwater Drum

1 meal/month

PCB

Channel Catfish under 18”, Carp, Hybrid Striped Bass, White Bass

6 meals/year

PCB

Channel Catfish over 18”

Do Not Eat

PCB

Oil Creek (Venango Co.)

SR 1004 bridge at Petroleum Center to mouth

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Shenango River (Mercer and Lawrence Cos.)

Shenango Reservoir Dam to mouth

All species

Do Not Eat

PCB

Sugar Lake (Crawford Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass, Chain Pickerel

2 meals/month

Mercury

Tamarack Lake (Crawford Co.)

Entire lake

Muskellunge

1 meal/month

Mercury

Walleye

2 meals/month

Mercury

Tenmile Creek (Washington and Greene Cos.)

Entire basin

Freshwater Drum

1 meal/month

Mercury

Tionesta Creek (Warren and Forest Cos.)

SR 0666 bridge at Henrys Mills to Tionesta Res. Dam

Smallmouth Bass, All suckers

2 meals/month

Mercury

Tionesta Reservoir (Forest Co.)

Entire lake

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Traverse Creek (Beaver Co.)

Source to dam in Raccoon State Park

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Tunungwant Creek (McKean Co.)

Confluence of East and West branches to PA/NY border

Carp, All suckers

2 meals/month

Mercury

Union City Reservoir (Erie Co.)

Entire lake

Largemouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

West Branch Caldwell Creek (Warren Co.)

Entire basin

Brown Trout

2 meals/month

Mercury

Youghiogheny Lake (Fayette/Somerset Cos.)

Entire lake

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

Youghiogheny River (Fayette and Somerset Cos.)

Youghiogheny Lake Dam to confluence of Lick Run

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

LAKE ERIE BASIN

Water Body

Area Under Advisory

Species

Meal Frequency

Contaminant

Lake Erie (Erie Co.)

Open waters

Walleye, Coho Salmon*, Steelhead* (Rainbow Trout), Brown Trout*, Smallmouth Bass, White Perch, White Bass, Lake Whitefish, Carp under 20”, Freshwater Drum, Lake Trout under 30” and Channel Catfish

1 meal/month

PCB

Carp over 20”, Lake Trout over 30”.

Do Not Eat

PCB

Lake Erie (Erie Co.)

Presque Isle Bay

Smallmouth Bass, White Perch, Freshwater Drum, Bowfin, Carp, Coho Salmon*, Steelhead* (Rainbow Trout) and Brown Trout*

1 meal/month

PCB

Conneaut Creek (Erie Co.)

SR 0215 bridge to PA/OH border

Smallmouth Bass

2 meals/month

Mercury

POTOMAC RIVER BASIN

There are currently no advisories for the Potomac River Basin.

However, the statewide advisory of 1 meal/week does apply to all waters throughout the Commonwealth including the Potomac River Basin.

For Additional Information

For further information or the most current advice, contact:

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
717-787-9637

For questions about current advisory listings, sampled waters, or sampling methods, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection website.

Pennsylvania Department of Health
717-787-3550
For questions about the effects of chemicals on human health, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Health website.

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
814-359-5147
For questions about the effects of chemicals on fisheries or current advisory listings, visit the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission website.