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.

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 |
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DELAWARE RIVER BASIN |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Carp |
6 meals/year |
PCB |
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American Eel |
Do Not Eat |
PCB |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Channel Catfish, Carp |
1 meal/month |
PCB |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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.) |
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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 |
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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 |
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Smallmouth Bass |
6 meals/year |
PCB |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Channel Catfish |
Do Not Eat |
PCB |
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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.) |
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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 |
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Carp |
Do Not Eat |
PCB |
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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 |
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Channel Catfish over 18” |
Do Not Eat |
PCB |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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.