The Connecticut River offers rich recreational resources, allowing people to exercise, enjoy nature, and release stress. When practiced with safety and awareness, these activities promote human well-being. One popular activity along the Connecticut River is fishing—for leisure and subsistence.
Unfortunately, pollution threatens access to fishing—especially for subsistence fisherfolk—because of its negative effects on human and ecosystem health.
This is an environmental justice issue; in addition to restricting river access, the effects of pollution most directly and negatively impact vulnerable human populations. States are responsible for promoting environmental justice to ensure all people have access to natural resources that improve their well-being. Implementing robust and in-depth fish consumption advisories to inform the public of best practices for minimizing exposure to harmful substances while consuming fish is essential to promote environmental justice.
Several pollutants have made their way into our water bodies, altering relationships across the ecosystem—including our relationship with fish as food.
Fish in contaminated waters take up some pollutants from sediments and plankton. When we catch and eat these fish, their accumulated contaminants are included in our meal. These contaminants linger in our systems, too. Like fish, they can accumulate in our bodies. The three contaminants most commonly found in freshwater fish tissues—based on fish consumption advisories from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont—are per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and mercury. PCBs and PFAS—often referred to as forever chemicals—along with mercury linger and then build up in the environment, animals, and humans.
PFAS comprise thousands of manufactured chemicals used for industry and consumer products since the 1940s. They can be found in drinking water, everyday items, food and its packaging, and personal care products. Research on the health impacts of PFAS is ongoing. Still, it indicates that exposure may lead to several adverse health impacts, including reproductive complications, developmental delays in children, metabolic issues, and increased risk of cancer.
PCBs are manufactured chemicals, used in building materials and electrical equipment before being banned in the United States in 1978. They are now often found in food as a result of their persistence in the environment. In addition to being listed as a probable human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency also reports that PCBs are linked to several health issues, including neurological underdevelopment in infants, thyroid hormone imbalances, pregnancy complications, and reduced immune system responses.
Mercury is a naturally occurring element found in rock in the Earth’s crust. While its release can occur naturally, the process has been expedited by burning fossil fuels and mercury-containing wastes. Its toxicity to humans is most potent in its organic form—methylmercury. Methylmercury in sediments and plankton are consumed and taken up by smaller fish. These fish are consumed in high quantities by larger fish—the fish we are most likely to put on our plates. Exposure to high levels of methylmercury is associated with harmful impacts on the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system. Children may develop neurological issues affecting their ability to think and learn from in vitro exposure.
To minimize the negative impacts of pollutants on human health, states implement fish consumption advisories. Consumption advisories inform the public of the presence of pollutants and can therefore reduce exposure to contaminants known to accumulate in fish tissues at levels that will have negative health effects for humans who consume them. Limiting how often we consume certain fish reduces our exposure to harmful contaminants.
Fish consumption advisories are informed by sampling fish to determine their concentration of contaminants. The EPA does not recommend a set frequency for updating consumption advisories. It encourages states to update advisories as needed based on new data. The EPA’s main concern is that fish consumption advisories are accurate and up-to-date based on available data.
The variations between consumption advisories in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont are stark.
Massachusetts has the most consumption advisories of the four states, listing restrictions and recommendations for over 250 waterbodies that are updated yearly. Connecticut’s consumption advisories are broader—including just over 20 sites— but the state updates its consumption advisories yearly and includes additional information about fish consumption from markets and restaurants. CRC’s River Steward in CT, Rhea Drozdenko, observed advisories posted at recreational access sites in Connecticut. At one access point, signs were posted in English and Spanish. New Hampshire last updated its advisories for just over 20 sites in 2021. Vermont updated its consumption advisory in early January 2025, providing general statewide guidelines to minimize mercury exposure. Its advisory includes site-specific guidelines for Lake Champlain and the Hoosic River due to PCBs and site-specific guidelines for reservoirs in the Connecticut River and Deerfield River with higher levels of mercury in fish.
There is no “catch-all” recommendation for fishing in the Connecticut River Watershed. Wherever possible, fisherfolk can exercise safe fish consumption by checking consumption advisories for where they plan to fish. It is up to the individual to determine how exposure to contaminants may impact their health, and exercise caution when consuming the fish they catch.
Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to prevent exposure to contamination. Subsistence and recreational fishing occurs throughout New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. People who rely on fishing to access nutritious food increase their exposure to harmful pollutants and thus their risk of negative health consequences. Subsistence fishing broadens the conversation around water pollution and environmental justice, indicating a need to include pollution reduction in our efforts to promote fishers’ health. While proper signage and accurate consumption advisories are important in educating the public, they are irrelevant in the face of hunger. Thus, fish advisories alone are insufficient in achieving environmental justice unless they are used to complement effective pollution reduction measures and more robust food security programs.
States have a responsibility to maintain and update thorough fish consumption advisories while also actively reducing pollutants in our environment to ensure subsistence fishing does not come at the expense of people’s health and well-being. These advisories promote public health—implementing advisories with depth and breadth are necessary to minimize the risks associated with contaminants, including mercury, PCBs, and PFAS. It is our responsibility to hold our state governments accountable for their obligations to the environment and more vulnerable populations. We can do this by supporting food accessibility and demanding in-depth sampling in all our waterways to ensure public health information is accurate and up to date.
Fish consumption advisories are also an essential component of ensuring environmental justice; when utilized in tandem with food accessibility programs and pollution reduction measures, they protect people from the harmful effects of water pollutants and encourage fishing mindfully. These advisories give the public the tools they need to enjoy fishing and maintain access to nutritious food without concern for the health implications of their consumption.
CRC's Director of Policy and Advocacy is very grateful for extensive research support from Clare Wangard – ECO AmeriCorps Service Member.
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