According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, over 16% of freshwater
lakes and 7% of the rivers are under some sort of fish consumption advisor
y because of the presence of toxic chemicals. There is considerable interes
t in the issuing of information, advisories, and fact sheets concerning the
consumption of wild-caught fish from contaminated waters, and in the actua
l consumption patterns of subsistence and recreational anglers. Despite the
large number of consumption advisories issued by state agencies, there is
little information on how these advisories, or other forms of risk communic
ation, are perceived by target audiences, notably fishermen and women of ch
ild-bearing age. The states of South Carolina and Georgia issue consumption
advisories for fish from the Savannah River, among other sites. To gain a
greater insight into the perception of anglers about a supplemental fish fa
ct sheet jointly developed by South Carolina, Georgia, federal agencies, an
d the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, we int
erviewed fisherman along the Savannah River. The objectives were to determi
ne: (1) whether they had previously read the Fish Fact Sheet or had heard a
bout the consumption advisories; (2) what major message they obtained from
the sheet; (3) who they felt the fact sheet was aimed at, and who should ge
t the Fish Fact Sheet; (4) who should be concerned about health risks from
consuming the fish; and (5) the best method of disseminating such informati
on. We interviewed 92 fishermen (37% black, 62% white) during the fishing s
eason of 1999. Half had heard some information about consumption advisories
, mainly from the media (64%). The study concluded that there were no ethni
c differences in whether they had heard about the advisories, understood th
e major message of the fact sheet, felt they could reduce their risk from c
onsuming the fish, or felt that it made a difference which agency issued th
e fact sheet. There were significant ethnic differences in the ways people
thought the risk from eating fish could be reduced. sources of information
about the risks from consuming fish, and what other information they would
like about the risks associated with contaminated fish. (C) 2001 Elsevier S
cience B.V. All rights reserved.