State Warns About Mercury in Fish

The March 31 advisory includes Spanish mackerel, marlin, shark and tuna, and warns against eating largemouth bass caught anywhere in the state.

Mercury is found in almost all fish and seafood, Williams said, because of their feeding habits. But mercury levels over the threshold pose a risk.

"We encourage people to eat fish low in mercury. It's a good, healthy source of protein," Williams said.

Williams added that most popular kinds of seafood are still low in mercury. Among the 34 low-mercury species listed on the advisory are shrimp, salmon and scallops.

A fishing industry representative who had not seen the advisory questioned the warning.

"They're erring very heavily on the side of caution," said Sean McKeon, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, which represents commercial fishing interests in the state. "I just worry that in the name of so-called science, people tend to make crises where none exist."

Environmental groups said the advisory points to a need for greater regulation of the state's coal-fired power plants, which generate mercury pollution.

Luke Ingraham, a Wilmington commercial fisherman who catches various species, said he knows power plants cause problems for fish but that he and other fishermen are powerless to do much about it.

"It hurts, just like when they came out with mad cow disease people stopped eating beef," he said. "There don't seem to be no way around it really."

North Carolina's Environmental Review Commission is proposing rules that would force Progress Energy to severely curtail merT¡cury releases from its coal-powered plants. If enacted, that would include the Sutton Plant in Wilmington.

Public hearings on the proposed rules start next month.