Urban anglers' perception of risk from contaminated fish.

The Newark Bay Complex includes the Newark Bay, tidal portions of the Hackensack River, Passaic River, Arthur Kill, and Kill van Kull. It is a highly industrialized urban area including five counties and more than 20 local governments with a large racially-mixed population of more than 3 million people. In 1982, research conducted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) showed elevated levels of chemical contaminants in five species of fish and one type of crab in the Newark Bay Complex. Subsequently, the State of New Jersey adopted advisories to guide citizens on safe consumption practices for fish and crabs. Since then, fish consumption advisories have been issued primarily through the Fish and Game Digest, a publication distributed by the state to licensed anglers. However, anglers in the Complex are not required to have a fishing license because the waters are marine. Therefore, most anglers in this area do not receive advisory information. To gain greater insight into the information sources and risk perceptions of urban anglers, a survey was conducted of 300 anglers at 26 fishing and crabbing locations in the Newark Bay Complex during the summer and early fall of 1995. The objectives of the study were to learn anglers': (1) knowledge of fish consumption advisories; (2) belief in the advisories; (3) perception of how safe fish are to eat; (4) sources for information about fish and fishing; and (5) sources for information on fish consumption advisories. The study concluded that while 60% had heard about advisories, they either did not believe or were unconcerned about health effects from eating contaminated species. In addition, the most used source for information about fish and fishing was other fishermen, while newspapers were selected as a source for information about community news, health, and food safety.

Fishing in urban New Jersey: ethnicity affects information sources, perception, and compliance.

Recreational and subsistence angling are important aspects of urban culture for much of North America where people are concentrated near the coasts or major rivers. Yet there are fish and shellfish advisories for many estuaries, rivers, and lakes, and these are not always heeded. This paper examines fishing behavior, sources of information, perceptions, and compliance with fishing advisories as a function of ethnicity for people fishing in the Newark Bay Complex of the New York-New Jersey Harbor. We test the null hypothesis that there were no ethnic differences in sources of information, perceptions of the safety of fish consumption, and compliance with advisories. There were ethnic differences in consumption rates, sources of information about fishing, knowledge about the safety of the fish, awareness of fishing advisories or of the correct advisories, and knowledge about risks for increased cancer and to unborn and young children. In general, the knowledge base was much lower for Hispanics, was intermediate for blacks, and was greatest for whites. When presented with a statement about the potential risks from eating fish, there were no differences in their willingness to stop eating fish or to encourage pregnant women to stop. These results indicate a willingness to comply with advisories regardless of ethnicity, but a vast difference in the base knowledge necessary to make informed risk decisions about the safety of fish and shellfish. Although the overall median income level of the population was in the $25,000-34,999 income category, for Hispanics it was on the border between $15,000-24,999 and $25,000-34,999.