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Scott Reinardy
Saturday, April 15, 2000     Page: 1C

Now might be a good time to embrace “catch and release” fishing.
   
Earlier this week the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission notified the
public that PCBs are still prevalent in hatchery-raised trout. The trout then
have been stocked into our lakes, rivers and streams.
    Along comes Luther the fisherman. He hasn’t missed an opening day in 37
years. Today will be no different. He’ll wet a line in several of his favorite
fishing holes, snagging his limit of PCB-laden trout.
   
When Luther returns home, his loyal fish-frying wife will ask, “Luther,
why are the fish glowing?”
   
“Don’t worry, honey. The PCB levels are relatively low. Besides, I don’t
think we’ll have any more children, and I already have cancer.”
   
I’ll be the first to admit my entire fishing knowledge could fit inside a
red and white bobber. But when state officials issue a trout consumption
advisory, it’s time to enjoy the hunt of fishing and then return the fish to
the waters.
   
According to the 2000 Pennsylvania Summary of Fishing Regulations and Laws,
the limit of five fish will provide enough meals to get you through Labor Day.
The guide recommends one meal per month and 12 meals per year.
   
Does the phrase, “the other white meat,” mean anything to you? The
fishing regulations guide devotes six pages to a public health advisory. It
tells you the contaminants in fish are PCBs, chlordane and mercury. It
explains that one in three people suffer cancer during their lifetime, but
“exposure to contaminants in the fish you eat may not increase your cancer
risk at all.”
   
But it may as well.
   
The guide even provides diagrams on how to clean your fish to cut away fat
deposits where the PCBs build up.
   
How bad is it?
   
For 50 years, more than a million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) were manufactured and widely used as liquid coolants and insulators in
industrial equipment. PCBs could also be found in fluorescent lamp ballasts,
televisions, welding equipment, X-ray machines and household appliances like
refrigerators and microwaves.
   
So what should you do with the trout you catch today?
   
Here are a few suggestions.
   
Use them as mouse bait.
   
Save on light bulbs and screw the fish into lamp sockets.
   
Use them to weld the broken wrought-iron rail on the front porch.
   
Sell them to Mercy Hospital to help repair X-ray machine.
   
Feed to undesirable in-laws.
   
Or you could take the practical approach and return them to the waters. For
fish, opening day has always been a life and death proposition. Now, I guess,
it goes both ways.
   
Call Reinardy at 831-7342 or e-mail at [email protected].