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Our waters, our fish, our people

• Mercury contamination in fish resources of two
  Treaty 3 communities

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Research Question

• Do our fish still contain high levels of Hg?
• Is it possible that some fish species in some
  lakes are clean enough to eat?
• How much fish can we eat without the fear of Hg
  poisoning?
• Can we set up a monitoring program ourselves to
  check the Hg levels in fish?

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Walleye
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Whitefish
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Bass
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Northern Pike
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Hg in Clay Lake
Species Scott (1974) Scott (1974) Scott (1974) Present study (2003) Present study (2003) Present study (2003)
Species N Avg Hg (mg/kg) length range(cm) N Avg Hg (mg/kg) Length range(cm)
Walleye 508 7.10 15.3-71.1 20 2.98 28.0-69.0
Northern Pike 497 5.97 21.2-80.3 20 2.14 39.0-68.0
Whitefish 234 1.83 25.7-52.5 19 0.31 44.0-54.0
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Hg in Walleye from Ball Lake
Year N Hg (mg/kg)
1971 60 1.99
1972 45 2.71
1976 46 1.39
Present study (2003) 20 0.40
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Mercury Contamination in Walleye
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16
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Concentraton Hg (ug/g)
12
10
1973
2003
8
6
4
2
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
distance downstream from Dryden (miles)
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Table 20 Average Hg Levels Fishing Popularity of
Specific Lakes
Grassy Narrows Grassy Narrows Grassy Narrows
Lake Average Level of Hg Participants Fishing ( of Population)
Clay 2.982 7 (13)
Ball 1.070 18 (34)
Tide 0.979 24 (45)
Indian 0.643 36 (68)
Seperation 0.600 39 (74)
Garden 0.575 45 (85)
Maynard 0.417 47 (89)
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Table 1 Participant Profile of Each Community
Grassy Narrows GN Wabaseemoong WD
Total n 87 100 55 100
Sampled 52 60 41 75
Volunteered 35 40 14 25
Male 51 59 21 38
Female 36 41 34 62
18-40 55 63 35 64
41-60 21 24 16 29
61 11 13 4 7
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Distribution of Average Fish Intake Grassy
Narrows
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Table 20 Average portion size for a fish meal
(g/meal) (mean SD)
Grassy Narrows
Walleye 276 134
Whitefish 232 167
Bass 255 192
Northern Pike 180 145
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Average Fish Intake - Grassy Narrows By Gender
Group
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Average Fish Intake - Grassy Narrows By Age Group
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Average Mercury Exposure by Age and Gender Group
Grassy Narrows
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Distribution of Mean Hair Mercury Concentrations
Grassy Narrows
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Estimated Mercury Exposure and Measured Hair
Level - Grassy Narrows
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Profile of participants with high Hg intake in
Grassy Narrow
Participant Mean Hair Hg (ppm) Age Gender Average Fish Consumption (g/day) Estimated Hg Exposure (ug/kg body wt/ day)
GN104 7.2 52 Male 10 0.3
GN118 7.4 49 Male 276 0.7

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RecommendationGrassy Narrow

• Currently, there is no problem with high Hg
  exposure from eating fish
• Do not eat fish from Clay and Ball Lake
• Promote eating more fish, particularly whitefish
  up to 5 fish meal per week
• Walleye may be limited to 2 fish meal every 3
  weeks for those who are concerned.