Overview of Ohio's Sport Fish Tissue Monitoring Program

Ohio's current sport fish consumption advisory committee functions under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among Ohio EPA, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and Ohio Department of Health. Technical staff from each agency meet several times a year as needed to coordinate fish advisories and other issues related to fish contaminants.

The methodology used for issuing fish advisories is described in the 1993 Protocol for a Uniform Great Lakes Sport Fish Consumption Advisory and its subsequent addenda. In cases where an advisory decision is needed for constituents not addressed in the protocol, the protocol is used as a framework for developing appropriate thresholds.

The ODH WIC Program is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. WIC helps low-income eligible pregnant and breastfeeding women, women who recently had a baby, and infants and children who are at risk due to inadequate nutrition. WIC provides: nutrition, education, breastfeeding education and support; supplemental highly nutritious foods; referral to prenatal and pediatric health care; and other maternal and child health and human service program information. The WIC Program has 230 clinics located throughout the State that see approximately 250,000 clients per month.

The fish contaminant monitoring sites are typically selected to coordinate with other water quality monitoring survey sites on an annual basis. Typically, approximately 250-300 fish tissue samples are collected from Ohio streams each year for contaminant analysis, along with another 100 from inland lakes and Lake Erie. In addition, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) collects fish tissue from the Ohio River annually, which the states use collectively to issue advisories.

Each year, the new fish contaminant data is evaluated, and advisories are issued or modified annually. Advisories are released concurrently when fishing license renewals are required, near the end of February. The advisories are updated on the website, and updated outreach materials are distributed to WIC clinics and to anglers and citizens upon request.

The Ohio Sport Fish Tissue Monitoring Program has accomplished the following objectives over the last 10 years.

1. Every major watershed in Ohio with at least a 50-square mile drainage area has been sampled at least once.
2. Ohio has collected and analyzed screening samples from nearly all inland lakes and reservoirs with public access.
3. Selected Lake Erie species have been collected and analyzed three times.
4. Ohio has collected and analyzed the Ohio portion of the Ohio River twice.
5. Ohio has provided fish consumption advisory information to Ohio citizens most in need through the Ohio Department of Health’s Women’s Infant’s and Children’s (WIC) and Help Me Grow (HMG) Programs.

See "Ohio Water Resource Inventory Volume 2: Ohio Fish Tissue Monitoring Program 1994," for a more detailed historical description of fish tissue monitoring in Ohio, and the "Ohio Water Resource Inventory" Volume 2: Ohio Fish Tissue Contaminant Monitoring 1996," for a detailed description of site evaluations.

See Ohio EPA's protocols on fish collections [PDF 107K], fish advisory development [PDF 171K], and fish tissue collection for environmental monitoring [PDF 23K] for more detailed descriptions of those procedures.

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