Title

Fish Consumption and Risk Assessment Project

Fiscal Year

2002-2003

Community/Region

Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources, Nova Scotia

Principal Investigator

Cheryl Berube

Community Project Lead

N/A

Project Members

Terry Denny, Vivian Bushell, Bert Lewis, Jason Pierro, Angela Morris, Christina Fraser and Alaina Jeddore

Project Summary

Marine mammals, fish and shellfish from the Atlantic Ocean and Bras d'Or Lakes have historically comprised a large portion of the diet of the Mi’kmaq People and remain an important resource, both culturally and economically. Community members were concerned about the impacts of chemicals on their food resources due the discharge of ballast water and sewage from passing boats, the effects of the Sydney tar ponds and other industrial activities, and municipal discharges into the Bras d’Or Lakes watershed. An additional concern was the increased closures of shellfish harvesting areas due to sewage contamination.  The first objective of this study was to identify fish consumption patterns to determine if there are health risks from eating fish in the Bras d’Or Lakes and area. The second objective was to determine the levels of specific contaminants in the area.

The project team conducted a fish consumption survey to determine the number and type of fish consumed by community members, the method by which they were obtained, and the locations where fish were caught. The survey also collected information on the size of households.

The team collected fish samples (e.g., cod, winter flounder, white hake, smelt, and eel) and analysed them for methyl mercury, DDT, PCBs, lead, and arsenic.

The study found the concentrations of contaminants in all of the fish samples were below the consumption guidelines established by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency. They concluded there was no health risk from consuming fish from the area as there was very little contamination found. The report recommended a bigger sample size covering greater species for a follow-up research.