Poor are given fish, not warning

BOISE (AP) - A north Idaho food bank gave away thousands of pounds of fish donated by the state wildlife agency without knowing about a state health department warning that eating too much of the mercury-contaminated fish could be dangerous for pregnant women and children.

In 2008, the Bonner Community Food Bank in Sandpoint, along with as many as eight other groups around the region, received the lake trout and whitefish caught from Lake Pend Oreille with gillnets through an Idaho Fish & Game program to restore endangered bull trout and kokanee.

Since at least 2007, the Department of Health and Welfare has advised pregnant women and children to eat just one monthly meal of lake trout and four meals of whitefish caught from Lake Pend Oreille. Food bank director Alice Wallace says she gave out 4,700 pounds of fish to the region's low-income people last year but was never told of the advisory.

She said it wasn't clear just who received the fish or whether some people ate more than the Health and Welfare recommendation.

"The fish that comes into the food bank is put into a public freezer that clients pick up for themselves," Wallace told The Associated Press. "It is the client's choice as to whether they take it or how much they take."

All fish from 2008 have been distributed; gillnetting is due to resume in February.

Wallace learned of the fish consumption advisory Tuesday from the Idaho Conservation League, which works across the state to raise awareness of mercury pollution.

Justin Hayes, with the Idaho Conservation League, said the fish giveaway, while well-meaning, saddles financially distressed residents with a tough choice: take fish contaminated with mercury, or go hungry.

"You have low-income families struggling to put food on the table, and the state is providing them with fish that can be dangerous to the long-term health of their children," Hayes said. "I don't think they should be giving those fish away, irrespective of whether they provide a warning or not."

According to Health and Welfare's 23-page warning about Idaho's mercury-contaminated fish, "if fish high in contaminants are eaten in excess, children may have delayed or impaired physical, mental or behavioral development." A 30-pound child can safely eat two ounces of fish in a meal, the agency says.

Mercury occurs naturally in the region and contamination of lakes also may result from mining activities. Montana has a fish advisory for mercury contamination in Flathead Lake, which is upstream of Lake Pend Oreille.

There are specific fish consumption advisories for at least 16 Idaho lakes or reservoirs. Advisories for consumption of bass are in effect for all state bodies of water.

Emily Simnitt, a Health and Welfare spokeswoman, said her agency only last Wednesday learned of the Fish and Game giveaway. It provides lake trout, also known as mackinaw, and whitefish to as many as nine organizations, including the Kalispell Indian tribe, groups in Spokane, Wash., and the Sandpoint food bank, Fish and Game officials said.

A private company enlisted by Fish and Game caught 11,761 trout and whitefish, ranging from about a pound to more than 20 pounds. That's a record since these harvests began in 2003.

Simnitt said her agency doesn't know if pregnant women or kids under 15 who received fish from the Bonner Community Food Bank ate more than recommended. Health and Welfare officials plan to discuss the issue with Wallace soon, she said.

"The advisory is really about eating fish judiciously and using your reason and your judgment," Simnitt said. "People need to be aware of it. But it's still a very good source of nutrition. It's really something people should continue adding to their diet, as long as they follow guidelines to eat it safely."

She noted that some store-bought fish also has mercury contamination.

For instance, the federal Environmental Protection Agency advises women and young children to eat only one six-ounce meal of albacore tuna per week. Chip Corsi, regional supervisor for the Department of Fish and Game in Coeur d' Alene, said the fish donation program began in 2003 after a previous effort to reduce lake trout, which prey on kokanee and bull trout, on another north Idaho lake prompted outrage among some that the fish were being thrown away.

"There is a demand from food banks for good sources of protein," Corsi said, adding his agency now plans to better inform the public. "The reason we're going to provide that information to the food banks now is because it's maybe becoming clear that people were not aware."

Still, a state lawmaker from the region, Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, said she was skeptical of the Health and Welfare advisory, calling it "blown out of proportion."

"Of course, we do need to do everything we can to protect our pregnant women," Broadsword said. "Maybe a sufficient fix would be to put a sign up at the food bank, telling them not to eat more" fish than recommended.