UNDERSTANDING ANGLERS PRACTICES RELATED TO HEALTH ADVISORIES FOR SPORT-CAUGHT FISH

This study examined sport anglers' understanding of the fish contamina nt situation in Lake Ontario and their compliance with the related Hea lth Advisory for consumption of sport-caught fish. Anglers (n = 304) c ompleted a mail survey about their knowledge, attitudes, behavioral be liefs, and practices. Multiple regression analysis was used to develop explanatory models for four advisory compliance behaviors: (1) probab ility of a household's not consuming restricted fish, (2) number of fi sh consumed by a household, (3) probability that women of childbearing age or children in the household did not consume restricted fish, and (4) probability that recommended trimming techniques were performed w hen restricted fish was consumed. Knowledge, credence that concern is warranted, and beliefs about health risk were interrelated and positiv ely associated with following the recommended practices. Beliefs about the health benefits, time, and tradition of fishing were negatively a ssociated with advisory compliance, as was a negative perception of ho w the contaminant situation affected oneself and the community. Angler s were less likely to follow the advisory if they lived far from Lake Ontario, were members of an angler club, and had either low or high in comes. The results give insight into approaches to improving education al strategies to help anglers and their households reduce their exposu re to contaminants in sport-caught fish.