A report released Friday by
Environmental Defence claims levels of toxic chemicals in fish found in the Great Lakes are alarmingly high - and that's something the group, whose mandate is to educate, wants the public to know about.
The report, entitled Up to the Gills: 2009 Update on Pollution in Great Lakes Fish examines fish consumption advisories in the Great Lakes between 2005 and 2009.
It apparently found levels of toxic chemicals in fish to be unnervingly high, and concluded these numbers are not improving with time.
Many categories of fish were suggested in the document to be somewhat or completely unfit for human consumption.
Lake Ontario fares worst among the lakes, with forty percent of advisories calling for 'zero consumption' of the examined species. While larger fish typically receive the most severe advisories, in Lake Ontario midsized and even small fish come with a consumption warning.
The report is based on data from The Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish, 2009-2010 edition published by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. This guide contains consumption advisory tables and contaminant levels for eight species of fish in 13 locations across the Great Lakes.
Mercury, PCBs, pesticides, dioxins and furans are among the major chemical contaminants. Adverse health effects from exposure to these chemicals can include damage to the nervous, respiratory and immune systems, as well as cancer.
Eating fish has clear health benefits, the report concluded, but consumers should know the potential health risks associated with particular species from specific locations.
"Fish are still a great choice for our diets, but we need to make sure we are not exposing ourselves to high levels of harmful chemicals," said Mike Layton, Program Manager of Environmental Defence.
Among its recommendations, the group calls for enhanced Canada-U.S. agreements to protect the Great Lakes.
"Our governments need to act deliberately and with conviction on a number of urgent threats to make the Lakes great for present and future generations," says Dr. Gail Krantzberg, Director of the Centre for Engineering and Public Policy and professor at McMaster University, specializing in Great Lakes Protection and regeneration.
"A revised and much more improved water quality agreement is key to the sustainability of our Great Lakes."
Canada and the United States recently announced they will update the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the bi-national agreement to protect and restore the Great Lakes. First signed in 1972, the agreement has not been revised since 1978.
The release of the report kicks off this year's Ontario Family Fishing Weekend, a two-day period when fishing in Ontario is permitted without a license.
The report can be downloaded at
Environmental Defence.
Ministry of Environment Guide on Fishing