For the first time in 50 years, New Yorkers can eat some of the fish they catch from the lower Hudson River, the state Department of Health announced Wednesday.
The updated guidance cites declining levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the area stretching from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in Catskill down to New York City.
Health department officials specified that the general population can now eat up to four meals a month of striped bass caught from the river, while people who can become pregnant and children under 15 can eat up to one 8-ounce meal a month of striped bass. It stressed you still cannot eat carp or small mouth bass due to PCBs.
“The contaminant levels in Mid-Hudson fish (Federal Dam at Troy to Rip Van Winkle Bridge at Catskill) did not warrant advisory changes at this time,” the health department said in a statement. “The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) catch-and-release regulation, “take no fish, eat no fish” still applies between Hudson Falls and the Federal Dam in Troy.”
The Department recommends cutting the skin and fat off fish caught and cooking it so that the fat drips off.
New restrictive advice was issued for other waters due to the levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) detected in some fish, the health department said.
To find more information about the state’s updated advice for eating fish caught statewide, check here.