FWP Updates Fish Consumption Guidelines for Yellowstone River Stretch

Anglers concentrating on the Yellowstone River now have an up to date fish consumption advisory for a selected stretch of water. The Fish Consumption Advisory Board (FCAB) is warning that girls of childbearing age and younger kids shouldn’t eat shorthead redhorse caught between Bratten Fishing Entry Website and Itch-Kep-Pe Park in Columbus attributable to excessive hydrocarbon ranges.

The advisory comes after a yr of sampling that started in summer season 2023 following a prepare derailment that dumped liquid asphalt into the river. FWP crews most just lately collected fish samples on June 24, 2024, at Otter Creek Holmgren Ranch and Huntley. They sampled a wide range of gamefish together with brown trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, and channel catfish, together with different species like longnose sucker, mountain whitefish, goldeye, and shorthead redhorse.

After analyzing all the information from 2023 and 2024, solely the shorthead redhorse confirmed problematic ranges of hydrocarbons. The excellent news for anglers is that every one earlier fish consumption advisories from Aug. 11 and Sept. 19, 2023, and Might 31, 2024, have been lifted. Moreover, there’s no restriction on utilizing shorthead redhorse as lower bait.

Whereas hydrocarbons might probably have an effect on liver, kidney, and blood when consuming massive quantities of contaminated fish over time, these results have solely been documented in animal research, not people. Most chemical compounds discovered within the samples haven’t been categorised as cancer-causing.

The FCAB, which incorporates representatives from Montana’s Division of Public Well being & Human Providers, Division of Environmental High quality, and Fish, Wildlife & Parks, isn’t planning extra sampling for this stretch of river. They notice that as a result of fish transfer freely all through river methods, they will’t pinpoint the precise supply of the contamination.

For anglers conserving fish to eat, officers say all different species that had been examined fell inside protected limits, making them positive for desk fare.

For extra data on petroleum hydrocarbons, go to the CDC’s Complete Petroleum Hydrocarbons web page

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award-winning outside journalist who resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly outside column for the Slidell Impartial Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Out of doors Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery. To contact Keith electronic mail: keithlusherjr@gmail.com