MONROE COUNTY — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has released the 2025 Eat Safe Fish Guides to help Michigan residents choose which fish are safe to eat for them and their families.
They provide consumption guidelines for locally caught fish, which are based on levels of certain chemicals found in portions of fish people eat, typically the filets.
“Michigan families can use these guidelines to help make healthy choices about the fish they eat,” said Natasha Bagdasarian, the MDHHS chief medical executive.
The primary concern in this year’s guides is perfluorooctane sulfonate, a man-made chemical used in things like fire-fighting foams, stain repellent, and non-stick cookware coatings. This is a greater threat to human health than previously thought, related to cancer and other illnesses.
According to local bait and tackle shops, the fishing season has been going well, especially in regards to walleye.
“People travel here from all over the place just to fish for walleye,” said Erin Aubrecht, owner of Jeff’s Bait and Tackle in Monroe.
According to her and Joseph Bitz, owner of Erie Party Shoppe and Docks, the only slight deterrent has been higher winds than expected.
Below are tables showing the safety of fish found in waters in Monroe County as well as Lake Erie. A word on certain labels used: the ^2x symbol means you can double the number of the Michigan servings per month if mercury or PFOS are not listed in the “Chemical of Concern” column and if the Michigan serving isn’t listed as “Limited.”
If a fish is labeled as “Limited,” then you should avoid eating it if you are under the age of 15, have health problems like cancer or diabetes, or might have children in the next several years or are currently pregnant/breastfeeding. The “Do Not Eat” label is self-explanatory and is for fish that were found to have very high levels of chemicals.
Lake Erie
Monroe County water bodies
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: What fish in Monroe County are safe to eat? Find out here
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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