What fish can you eat from Capital Region waters?
With the warmer weather, many residents are getting outside and going fishing. While you can catch-and-release the fish you hook, bringing home and eating the fish is also an option, but it comes with some guidelines.
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- With the warmer weather, many residents are getting outside and going fishing. While you can catch-and-release the fish you hook, bringing home and eating the fish is also an option, but it comes with some guidelines.
The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) offers advice on which fish and from what bodies of waters are suitable to eat fish from. The advice is also split into two categories: the general population and the sensitive population.
The sensitive population includes people who can bear children under 50 and children under 15. The general population is everyone else. People who eat highly contaminated fish and become pregnant may have an increased risk of having children who are slower to develop and learn, said the NYSDOH.
In most waters, people can eat up to four fish meals a month. However, some waters have been affected by industrial chemicals, pesticides, and/or mercury. Some fish may also have higher levels of chemicals than others. The NYSDOH may suggest to limit or not to eat certain fish from certain bodies of water.
These are the waters and fish where people should limit their fish consumption or not eat those fish at all, depending on the type of population you're in, according to the NYSDOH. If a body of water and/or specific fish is not listed below, both populations may eat up to four fish meals per month.
| Body of water | Fish | General population | Sensitive population | Reason |
| Dunham Reservoir (Rensselaer County) | Walleye | Don't eat | Don't eat | Mercury |
| Smallmouth bass | Up to 1 meal/month | Don't eat | Mercury | |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Don't eat | Mercury | |
| Dyken Pond (Rensselaer County) | Largemouth bass | Up to 1 meal/month | Don't eat | Mercury |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Don't eat | Mercury | |
| Hoosic River from Schaghticoke Dam to Vermont state line (including Johnsonville and Schaghticoke Reservoirs) (Rensselaer, Washington Counties) | Rainbow trout, Smallmouth bass | Up to 1 meal/month | Up to 1 meal/month | PCBs |
| Brown trout | Greater than 14", Don't eat; Less than 14", up to 1 meal/month | Greater than 14", Don't eat; Less than 14", up to 1 meal/month | PCBs | |
| Carp | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs | |
| Bluegill, Yellow perch | Up to 4 meals/month | Up to 4 meals/month | Healthy choice | |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Up to 1 meal/month | PCBs | |
| Kinderhook Lake (Columbia County) | American eel | Up to 1 meal/month | Don't eat | PCBs |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Don't eat | PCBs | |
| Mohawk River/Erie Canal between Five Mile Dam and Cohoes Falls (Herkimer, Schenectady, Montgomery, Albany, Saratoga Counties) | Carp | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs |
| Brown bullhead, Bluegill, Blueback herring, Rock bass, Smallmouth bass, Walleye, Yellow perch | Up to 4 meals/month | Up to 4 meals/month | Healthy choice | |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Up to 1 meal/month | PCBs | |
| Nassau Lake (Rensselaer County) | All fish | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs |
| Thayers Pond (Rensselaer County) | All fish | Don't eat | Don't eat | PFAS |
| Valatie Kill between County Route 18 and Nassau Lake (Rensselaer County) | All fish | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs |
| Valatie Kill between Nassau Lake and Kinderhook Lake (Rensselaer County) | American eel, Bluegill sunfish, Redbreast sunfish | Up to 1 meal/month | Don't eat | PCBs |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Don't eat | PCBs | |
| Hudson River upstream from Corinth Dam (Warren, Essex, Saratoga, Hamilton Counties) | All fish | Follow Adirondack Regional Advisory at end of article | Follow Adirondack Regional Advisory at end of article | Mercury |
| Hudson River, Corinth Dam to South Glens Falls Dam at Route 9 Bridge (Warren, Saratoga Counties) | Carp, Channel catfish | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs |
| All other fish | Follow Adirondack Regional Advisory at end of article | Follow Adirondack Regional Advisory at end of article | Mercury | |
| Hudson River, South Glens Falls Dam at Route 9 Bridge to Hudson Falls Dam at Bakers Falls (Warren, Washington, Saratoga Counties) | All fish | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs |
| Hudson River, Hudson Falls Dam at Bakers Falls to Federal Dam at Troy (Rensselaer, Albany, Washington, Saratoga Counties) | All fish | Catch and release only | Catch and release only | PCBs |
| Hudson River, Federal Dam at Troy to Rip Van Winkle Bridge at Catskill (Rensselaer, Albany, Columbia, Greene Counties) | Alewife, Blueback herring, Rock bass, Yellow perch | Up to 1 meal/month | Don't eat | PCBs |
| All other fish | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs | |
| Hudson River, Rip Van Winkle Bridge at Catskill to Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge (Ulster, Rockland, Dutchess, Westchester, Columbia, Putnam, Greene, Orange Counties) | Crab or lobster tomalley and cooking liquid | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs, Dioxin, Cadmium |
| Channel catfish, Gizzard shad, Walleye, White catfish | Don't eat | Don't eat | PCBs | |
| Blue crab meat | Up to 4 meal/month | Don't eat | PCBs, Cadmium | |
| Striped bass, Bluefish, Brown bullhead, Carp, Largemouth bass, Smallmouth bass, White perch, Rainbow smelt, Atlantic needlefish, and Goldfish | Up to 1 meal/month | Don't eat | PCBs | |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meal/month | Don't eat | PCBs | |
| Lake Champlain (Clinton, Washington, Essex Counties) | All fish | Follow Adirondack Regional Advisory at end of article | Follow Adirondack Regional Advisory at end of article | PCBs, Mercury |
| North-South Lake (Greene County) | Largemouth bass | Up to 1 meal/month | Greater than 15", Don't eat; Less than 15", up to 1 meal/month | Mercury |
| All other fish | Follow Catskill Regional Advisory at end of article | Follow Catskill Regional Advisory at end of article | Mercury | |
| Schoharie Reservoir (Delaware, Greene, Schoharie Counties) | Yellow perch, Black crappie | Up to 1 meal/month | Up to 1 meal/month | Mercury |
| All other fish | Follow Catskill Regional Advisory at end of article | Follow Catskill Regional Advisory at end of article | Mercury | |
| Ashokan Reservoir (Ulster County) | Largemouth bass | Up to 1 meal/month | Greater than 15", Don't eat; Less than 15", up to 1 meal/month | Mercury |
| All other fish | Follow Catskill Regional Advisory at end of article | Follow Catskill Regional Advisory at end of article | Mercury | |
| Chodikee Lake (Ulster County) | Largemouth bass | Greater than 15", up to 1 meal/month; Less than 15", up to 4 meals/month | Don't eat | Mercury |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Don't eat | Mercury |
Adirondack Regional Advisory
For all waters not listed above in northern Saratoga, northern Washington, Fulton and Warren Counties, follow this advisory. Some waters in the table above also refer to this advisory.
| Fish | General population | Sensitive population |
| Walleye greater than 19'' | Don't eat | Don't eat |
| Chain pickerel, Lake trout, Largemouth bass, Rock bass, Smallmouth bass, Walleye less than 19'', Yellow perch greater than 10'' | Up to 1 meal/month | Don't eat |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Up to 1 meal/month |
Catskill Regional Advisory
For all waters not listed above in Greene and Ulster Counties, follow this advisory. Some waters in the table above also refer to this advisory.
| Fish | General population | Sensitive population |
| Brook trout, Rainbow trout, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed/Sunfish | Up to 4 meals/month | Up to 4 meals/month |
| Chain pickerel greater than 20'', Largemouth bass, Rock bass, White perch | Up to 1 meal/month | Up to 1 meal/month |
| Smallmouth bass, Walleye less than 19'', Yellow perch greater than 10'' | Up to 1 meal/month | Don't eat |
| Walleye greater than 19'' | Don't eat | Don't eat |
| All other fish | Up to 4 meals/month | Up to 1 meal/month |