Fishing in a Polluted Estuary: Fishing Behavior, Fish Consumption, and Potential Risk

Abstract

People make subjective judgments about hazards relying on what they know and feel. These risk perceptions may be based on accurate or inaccurate information and are often optimistically biased. The existence of uncertainties in the evaluation of many environmental hazards effects how risks are perceived. This paper examines fish consumption and risk perception of urban fishermen in the New York/New Jersey estuary, in areas where there were consumption advisories. We interviewed 318 fishermen and crabbers in the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, and New Jersey shore. Fish were eaten an average of at least four times per month in all regions, but fishermen in the Arthur Kill fished most frequently, averaging over eight times per month. Although 60% of fishermen and crabbers in the Arthur Kill reported hearing warnings about consuming fish caught in these waters, 70% of fishermen and 76% of crabbers said they are their catch. Significantly fewer fishermen in the Bay and Shore regions had heard warnings (28% and 30%, respectively), and more reported consuming their catch (88% and 82%, respectively). In all regions, most people thought that the fish were safe to eat, many believing they were "fresher" than store bought fish. Thus, most people ignored the consumption advisories in effect for these waters. Some of these people are consuming high quantities of fish and crabs, and thus are exposed to potentially deleterious levels of contaminants. In general, people failed to consider the possibility of chronic effects and did not perceive that this enjoyable, familiar pastime could be hazardous. Further, fishermen generally had great confidence in their own knowledge, which proved to be inaccurate in many cases, and often expressed distrust in the information source (government). Clearly, simply issuing consumption advisories is insufficient to promote risk-reducing behavior.

Saltwater sport fishing for food or income in the Northeastern US: Statistical estimates and policy implications

“…While our study was not specifically designed to examine the issue of health risks related to fish consumption, the results do suggest that marine anglers may have an increased risk tolerance and/or a degree of distrust or disbelief of advisory information. Our results are consistent with other studies that found that anglers are often unconcerned about potential health risks from fish consumption [10,15,16] due to a mistrust of government warnings or reliance on their own perception of contamination present in self-caught fish. Across angler categories, we found that a significantly higher percentage of F/I anglers consumed (either themselves or family/ friends) self-caught marine resources and were aware of health alerts pertaining to these resources as compared to REC anglers.…”

To Eat or not to Eat an Endangered Species: Views of Local Residents and Physicians on the Safety of Sea Turtle Consumption in Northwestern Mexico

“…Other studies have reported that seafood consumption may decrease after the onset of advisories (Oken et al, 2003;Shimshack et al, 2005) or new information (Johnson, 2004). However, many studies (Reinart et al, 1991;Velicer and Knuth, 1994;May and Burger, 1996;Pflugh et al, 1999;Burger, 2000;Jardine, 2003) also have found that people continue to eat fish from contaminated waters despite advisories, although this may be a function of not communicating to the specific target audience (Connelly and Knuth, 1998). Liu et al (1998) found that individuals responded more quickly to negative media attention (risks) than to positive information (benefits) concerning fish consumption.…”

The effect of risk perception on public preferences and willingness to pay for reductions in the health risks posed by toxic cyanobacterial blooms

“…There are often marked discrepancies between peoples' perceptions of risk and that measured scientifically or "objectively" (Kraus et al, 1992;May and Burger, 1996;Campbell et al, 2002). The work of cognitive psychologists has shown that lay perceptions are often strongly influenced by a variety of personal, social and cultural factors.…”