Development of a Fish Contaminant Monitoring Protocol for Lake Mead, Nevada

Authors

Shawn Gerstenberger, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Barbara Eccleston, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2002

Publication Title

Journal of Lake and Reservoir Management

Volume

18

Issue

2

First page number:

118

Last page number:

128

Abstract

Fish consumption practices and patterns for Lake Mead, Nevada, were determined by administering detailed questionnaires to 150 sportsmen at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Striped bass, largemouth bass and channel catfish were the most frequently consumed fish species, with an average of 22 ± 3.6 fish meals a year consumed by respondents. Striped bass and largemouth bass between 13–18 inches were most commonly consumed, while channel catfish were typically between 10–15 inches in length. Skin-off fillets of all three species was the preferred method of preparation, while cooking techniques varied by species. The most popular fishing areas in our survey included Government Wash, Hemenway Harbor, Overton Beach, Saddle Cove, St. Thomas and the Las Vegas Bay (wash). Based on these data, a three fish, four location contaminant monitoring protocol was developed to best represent human exposure to contaminated fish at Lake Mead. This sampling design is applicable to large lakes and reservoirs where succinct toxicological data are needed, but standard sampling techniques would be excessively expensive or impractical.

Keywords

Channel catfish; Contaminants; Cooking (Fish); Fishing; Food contamination; Food – Toxicology; Largemouth bass; Questionnaires; Striped bass; United States – Lake Mead; Water – Pollution

Disciplines

Environmental Health and Protection | Environmental Monitoring | Environmental Sciences | Food Science | Toxicology | Water Resource Management

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited

Repository Citation

Gerstenberger, S., Eccleston, B. (2002). Development of a Fish Contaminant Monitoring Protocol for Lake Mead, Nevada. Journal of Lake and Reservoir Management, 18(2), 118-128.