MT Outdoor Podcast: What We Learned About the New Fish Consumption Warnings
This week on the Montana Outdoor Podcast your host Downrigger Dale talks with a panel of experts to go over the latest fish consumption warnings that were issued by the FWP, Montana DEQ and the Department of Health and Humane services. When that press release about the fish consumption warnings came out back in late April Rigger called his buddy Greg Lemon at the FWP. Greg was able to get a date set when three experts from the Department of Health and Human Services, DEQ and the FWP could all get together and come on the podcast. Rigger and the Captain had received lots of emails from folks that were concerned about consuming the fish that they were catching. After all, the headline of the press release said, “DATA INDICATES FISH CAUGHT IN SOME MONTANA WATERBODIES MAY CONTAIN DETECTABLE LEVELS OF THE MAN-MADE POLLUTANTS KNOWN AS PFAS”. PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. What are those? The experts on podcast will explain it way better than we can, all we know is that they are not good for you if you eat a lot of them. As Rigger put it after he had heard that one of the fish mentioned was Walleye; “The headline alone was enough to scare the P-FAS out of me that is for sure! Especially since my health has not been the best lately and I love to eat Walleye!”. That is why he wanted to get the facts directly from the experts. And that is exactly what you will get when you watch or listen to this podcast, especially if you are one of the folks that had heard about it like Rigger and got pretty darn concerned. So here is what we recommend. First, watch or listen to the podcast as it gives some great information that we are sure will make you feel a lot better when you get the facts from the experts that Rigger has on this week’s podcast. If you want to get even more info there are some links below that will give you some great info as well, however you will probably understand that info better if you watch or listen to the podcast first. Also, there are links to take you straight to the emails of the experts on the podcast as well, if you want to ask them questions directly. Bottomline; Montana basically has cleanest fish and water in the country! That said, there are recommendations that you should follow especially for women that are pregnant or for younger kids. So, watch or listen to this podcast to get great info and help you find the details you need!
Links:
- Click here to read the press release that came a while back.
- One of the experts on the podcast is Trevor Selch who is a Fisheries Pollution Biologist with the FWP, and he gave us a copy of the Montana Sport Fish Consumption Guidelines which is full of great info. Click here to look that over.
- Click here to email Trevor with you questions.
- Another expert on the podcast is Andy Ulven. He is the Water Quality Planning Bureau Chief with the Montana DEQ. And here are the links to some publications that will also give you lots more info about what is being done about all this.
- Montana’s 2020 PFAS Action Plan
- 2024 Action Plan Progress Report
- 2023 Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Fish Tissue and Surface Water Report
- If you have questions for Andy, click here to email him.
- Dawn Nelson was another expert on the podcast who was also very helpful. She is a Toxicology & Environmental Public Health Supervisor with the Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services. She said you are welcome to click here to email her with any questions you have.
- Questions for Rigger? He would love to hear from you, just click here to email him!
