News
Release
March
8, 2000
Michigan
Department of Community Health Director James K. Haveman, Jr. and Michigan
Department of Natural Resources Director K.L. Cool today announced
implementation of the state's
first joint distribution of the Michigan Fish Advisory and Michigan Fishing
Guide.
"The
guide and the advisory are packaged together in a single envelope that will be
handed to anglers when they buy their fishing license,"
said Haveman. "This
increases the likelihood that anglers get important information about fishing
regulations and fish consumption conveniently and consistently. We will also continue our efforts to distribute the Michigan Fish
Advisory separately so that women of childbearing age and children have this
important information."
The
guide and advisory were previously shipped separately to fishing license
vendors, who were then asked to distribute them together. "We
are pleased to work together to make sure that anglers have all the information
they need in a single package,"
said Cool. "We
also appreciate the assistance of our vendors in implementing this new
distribution system".
The
Michigan Fishing Guide contains fishing seasons, limits, and other regulations.
The Michigan Fish Advisory shows which sport fish are best for you and
least contaminated to eat. The
Michigan Fish Advisory will separately be distributed through Women, Infant and
Children clinics, local public health departments, many physicians'
offices, Indian Health Service Clinics and other locations because women of
childbearing age, unborn children and young children are sensitive to chemicals
that build up in fish over time.
For
adults, eating Michigan sport fish can be a healthy choice.
Anglers and their families can use the fish advisory to get the benefits
of eating fish by choosing safer types of fish, safer places to catch fish,
safer ways to prepare fish, and moderation in how often and how much fish is
eaten.
The
general format of the Michigan Fish Advisory is the same as in 1998, when it
received concurrence from the Michigan Environmental Science Board (MESB).
The MESB concluded that the approach has a sound basis in the available
scientific literature and makes good public health sense.
The MESB said the format also provides a cautious protective value for
the more sensitive unborn and young children without being overprotective for
the rest of the population.
Copies
of the Michigan Fish Advisory are available from the Department of Community
Health health promotion clearinghouse at 1-800-626-4636. It can also be found on the Department web site at
www.mdch.state.mi.us
and by clicking on "Michigan
Fish Advisories."