Ga. Chimes in Hartwell Fish Consumption

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

Last week, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources issued their 2016 report regarding which fish in Lake Hartwell are safe to eat.

In their release, agents who tested fish in Hartwell lake said consumption recommendations for spotted bass from Lake Hartwell is no more than one meal per month.

And in its latest guidelines, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division also warns against eating certain species of fish from Lake Hartwell.

That’s according to Georgia EPD Environmental Program Manager Jeremy Smith.

“There are several consumption restrictions on Hartwell based on the data we’ve collected on the main body of the lake and the Tugaloo arm of Hartwell, Primarily from PCB’s and mercury. We’ve sampled several species of fish. The smaller fish such as the black crappie or the blue gill, We’ve found that you can eat without any restrictions. However some of the larger species such as large mouth bass or striped or hybrid bass, and catfish are not safe to eat without restrictions.” said Smith.

PCB’s are a group of organic chemicals which can be odorless or mildly aromatic solids or oily liquids.

They were formerly used in the United States as hydraulic fluids, plasticizers, adhesives, fire retardants, way extenders, de-dusting agents, pesticide extenders, inks, lubricants, cutting oils, in heat transfer systems, carbonless reproducing paper.

In the 1970’s, an Anderson, South Carolina company dumped tons of PCB waste into a tributary of Lake Hartwell resulting in the contamination of fish in the lake.

Smith said the current restriction guidelines have to do with how often you can eat the fish out of Lake Hartwell as well as what size of fish is safe to consume.

“It’s different for each individual species and contaminant. For example in the main body of the lake we recommend that you do not eat hybrid or striped bass at all based on PCB concentrations that were found in sample tissues. Catfish are one meal a month. Large mouth bass are also one meal a month based on PCB’s.” Smith said.

In the Stephens County area of the Tugaloo, Smith said some of those species can be eaten more than once a month.

“On the Tugaloo arm large mouth bass, carp or walleye are one meal per week. We also recommend hybrid and striped bass taken from that area if the are between 12 or 16 inches you can eat those about one meal per month. If they are over 16 inches we recommend you don’t eat them at all,” Smith said.

Now to find out more about the guidelines for which fish are safe to eat in Lake Hartwell, you can go to the Georgia EPD web site and down load its guidelines at: http://epd.georgia.gov/.