2016 ADPH Fish Advisories

Therein lies the ambiguity of even 'scientific' guidelines.
Most folks may be able to tolerate mercury levels 5X, 10X even 20X the minimum levels without becoming symptomatic.
But some (a few, how many?) may not be able to tolerate even a portion of the benchmark levels.

At least the current guidelines give a vague idea of those most vulnerable and leave the level of 'acceptable risk' to the individual.
Believe me, I was troubled 30 years ago when I first learned of higher than acceptable levels of mercury levels in king mackerel because I didn't want to poison my kids.
But they turned out just fine despite us eating mackerel regularly.
But I do concentrate on catching (or at least keeping only) smaller kings (less than 39" FL) or other species which are not on the warning list.

2017:
Alabama fish consumption advisories: Compete list of species on do-not-eat list | AL.com

Quote:

BY LEADA GORE
lgore@al.com
The Alabama Department of Public Health has issued its annual fish consumption advisories.
The advisories are based on samples of 641 fish species collected for analysis at 48 stations around the state. The samples are tested to determine whether they have contaminants that could possibly be harmful to humans.
Newly issued advisories include the safe number of meals of that species of fish that can be eaten in a set time, such as meals per week, meals per month or do not eat any. A meal portion is defined as 6 ounces of cooked fish or 8 ounces of raw fish.
The advisories are just that, according to the ADPH.
"No regulations ban the consumption of any of the fish caught within the state, nor is there a risk of an acute toxic episode that could result from consuming any of the fish containing the contaminants for which the state has conducted analyses," the department said in a written statement.
Below is the list of do-not-eat advisories. For a complete list of other advisories based on recommendations, go here.
Do not eat advisories

Bear Creek at Allsboro Road in Colbert County - largemouth bass (mercury)
Bear Creek Reservoir dam firebay area - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Big Nance Creek at Lawrence County Road 25 - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Flint Creek downstream of West Flint Creek confluence, vicinity of Highway 31 - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Little Bear Creek Reservoir at mile 12.5 - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Town Creek 4 miles upstream of Highway 227 Bridge in Marshall County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Widows Creek 1.5 miles upstream of Tennessee River confluence to first bridge crossing on Million Dollar Bridge in Jackson County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Widows Creek upstream of Jackson County Road 96 - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Bay Minette Creek near Highway 225 bridge in Baldwin County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Big Creek Reservoir, lakewide in Mobile County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Bilbo Creek upstream of the confluence with the Tombigbee River in Washington County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Bon Secour Bay - vicinity of County Road 10 bridge in Baldwin County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Chickasaw Creek, entire creek in Mobile County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Cold Creek Swamp from confluence of Cold Creek with the Mobile River west through the swamp - All species (mercury)
Cowpen Creek upstream of confluence with fish river - All species (mercury)
Escatawpa River in the vicinity of US Hwy 98 bridge west of Wilmer - Blacktail redhorse, largemouth bass, spotted bass (mercury)
Fish River in vicinity of Polecat Creek 1 mile upstream of County Road 32 bridge in Baldwin County and 2 miles upstream of US Highway 98 bridge in vicinity of Waterhole Branch/Fish River confluence - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Fowl River entire river in Mobile Count - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Magnolia River approximately 2.5 miles upstream of Weeks Bay - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Mobile River at Cold Creek at river mile 27 - All species (mercury)
Polecat Creek - Upstream of confluence with Fish River - All species (mercury)
Sipsey River embayment .5 miles upstream of confluence with Tombigbee River in Tuscaloosa County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Tensaw River at the L&N Railroad Crossing - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Tombigbee River at river mile 50 and vicinity of McIntosh Landing at river mile 60- Largemouth bass (mercury)
Inland Reservoir forbay area in Blount County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Choccolocco Creek entire length of creek from south of Oxford to Logan Martin Lake in Calhoun, Talladega counties; in vicinity of County Road 399 bridge in Talladega County; Choccolocco Creek embayment, approximately 1 mile upstream of lake confluence - All species (PCBs, mercury)
Clairborne Reservoir lower reservoir and dam forebay in Monroe County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Coosa River between Riverside and Logan Martin Dam in St. Clair and Talladega counties; between Logan Martin Dam and the railroad tracks crossing the Coosa near Vincent (Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega counties - Striped bass (PCBs)
Lay Reservoir two miles downstream of Logan Martin Dam in St. Clair County - Spotted bass (PCBs)
Logan Martin Reservoir lower reservoir and dam forebay in St. Clair, Talladega counties - Striped bass (PCBs)
Sugar Creek at Martin Reservoir and Sugar Creek embayment in Tallapoosa counties - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Thurlow Reservoir lower reservoir in Elmore County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Yates Reservoir lower reservoir and dam forebay in Tallapoosa County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Barbour Creek embayment of Walter George Reservoir in area of Highway 431 in Barbour County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Big Escambia Creek at Louisville and Nashville Railroad Bridge in Escambia County- Largemouth bass, spotted bass (mercury)
Blackwater River in area between mouth of river and pipeline crossing southeast of Robertsdale in Baldwin County- Largemouth bass (mercury)
Chattahoochee River near Alabama/Florida state line in Houston County- Largemouth bass (mercury)
Choctawhatchee River 1.5 miles above the Alabama/Florida state line in Geneva County - Largemouth bass, spotted bass (mercury)
Cowikee Creek embayment of WF George Reservoir - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Frank Jackson Reservoir dam forebay - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Lake Jackson located at Alabama/Florida state line at Florala - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Murder Creek at confluence of Burnt Corn Creek and Conecuh River in Escambia County - Largemouth bass, spotted bass (mercury)
Perdido River near Highway 90 bridge crossing in Baldwin County - All species (mercury)
Point A Reservoir lower reservoir and dam forebay in Conecuh County- Largemouth bass (mercury)
Sepulga River near Brooklyn in Escambia County - All species (mercury)
Styx River near Highway 90 Bridge crossing in Baldwin County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Uchee Cree embayment in Russell County - Largemouth bass (mercury)
Yellow River at County Road 4 Bridge in Covington County- Largemouth bass (mercury)
Entire Gulf Coast in Baldwin and Mobile counties - King Mackerel over 39 inches (mercury)

You can read more information about the advisories and what they mean here.

What really jumps out is that bass really bioaccumulate mercury.
Which Makes sense since they are at the top of the food chain.
I don't care for them anyway never liked the taste of them

most of the lakes and rivers in our country are contaminated and wont ever be cleaned up in most of our life time ,the further down stream the worse it gets,the great lakeswere in sad shape yearsago but have gotten better and may become sterile due to zebra muscles

Quote:

Originally Posted by witler

Where does Mercury in fish come from? Is it just in saltwater or freshwater or both?

It comes from coal fired power plants, for the most part. I've heard that the mercury levels in fish is going down as the U.S. is using more Natural gas (which doesn't have mercury) for electric plants. It's in both fresh and saltwater fish. It tends to be worse in the bigger and longer-lived predatory fish, as they have eaten more smaller fish and accumulated more mercury.

And also the problem is worse in tannic coastal river systems where elemental mercury is more easily methylated into biologically available form.
This is why we have such a problem in coastal rivers (like Fish River) where there is no apparent source of pollution other than air deposition.

I think that mercury contamination in long-lived pelagic saltwater top predators (king macs, tuna, sharks, etc..) may be a natural situation. Mercury is a trace element in seawater, so bioaccumulation up the food chain from natural sources probably explains most of the mercury found in these fish. But air pollution from 200 years of burning coal most likely did not help.