FISHING IN A POLLUTED ESTUARY - FISHING BEHAVIOR, FISH CONSUMPTION, AND POTENTIAL RISK

People make subjective judgments about hazards relying on what they kn ow and feel. These risk perceptions may be based on accurate or inaccu rate 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 ris k perception of urban fishermen in the New York/New Jersey estuary, in areas when there were consumption advisories. We interviewed 318 fish ermen and crabbers in the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, and New Jersey sho re. Fish were eaten an average of at least four times per month in all regions, but fishermen in the Arthur Kill fished most frequently, ave raging over eight times per month. Although 60% of fishermen and crabb ers in the Arthur Kill reported hearing warnings about consuming fish caught in these waters, 70% of fishermen and 76% of crabbers said they ate their catch. Significantly fewer fishermen in the Bay and Shore r egions had heard warnings (28% and 30%, respectively), and more report ed consuming their catch (88% and 82%, respectively). In all regions, most people thought that the fish were safe to eat, many believing the y were ''fresher'' than store bought fish. Thus, most people ignored t he consumption advisories in effect for these waters. Some of these pe ople are consuming high quantities of fish and crabs, and thus are exp osed to potentially deleterious levels of contaminants. In general, pe ople failed to consider the possibility of chronic effects and did not perceive that this enjoyable, familiar pastime could be hazardous. Fu rther, fishermen generally had great confidence in their own knowledge , which proved to be inaccurate in many cases, and often expressed dis trust in the information source (government). Clearly, simply issuing consumption advisories is insufficient to promote risk-reducing behavi or.