If you’re wondering where to safely catch and eat fish in New York, there’s a website for that. And it’s all thanks to one testing station in Fulton County.
The Hale Creek Field Station near Gloversville used to be a hatchery.
Though the hatchery closed in the 1970s, you can still find brown and rainbow trout in the pools on the front lawn. And, if you ask nicely, the station employees might even give you a cup of fish food.
Inside the station, state-of-the-art machines and Department of Environmental Conservation employees are hard at work.
Today, DEC and Department of Health commissioners are offering a tour of the facility that tests fish samples for PCBs, heavy metals, pesticides, and so-called “forever chemicals.”
DEC lab technician Madison Franco demonstrates as State Health Commissioner James McDonald looks on...
“So, this is a large mouth bass. So, what we do when we get a fish that’s frozen we first read the tag number. So, each of these metal tags that the DEC gives out has an individual number that can’t get repeated so we know that this is the fish associated with this number. So, first we descale the fish, so this one is already done and you can see because it’s so smooth. And then we’ll fillet it. So, this is a fillet that’s already done. All of the organs and guts really stay and this gets thrown out. We only want the fat because that’s where the chemicals accumulate,” said Franco.
“Yeah that makes sense,” said DOH Commissioner James McDonald.
“And this is what people would eat. You’re not going to be eating the gross parts,” said Franco.
The fillets are then cut into chunks and ground up.
The samples are freeze dried for about a day. Then, they get sent upstairs to one of three separate labs.
It’s lab tech Tanya Jasewicz’s job to extract from the samples a vial of contaminants like PCBs and pesticides.
“So, essentially it concentrates everything down into like a lipid form and then there’s also like other junk in there like other organic compounds, other proteins, other lipids that might interfere with our analysis. So, we essentially have to take that and clean it up,” said Jasewicz.
The station also tests for PFAS compounds and heavy metals like mercury.
For metals the samples are incinerated for about 10 minutes, leaving just the contaminants. PFAS and other bioaccumulating chemicals are filtered out over three days.
For DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton, this field station is a vital part of keeping the state healthy in the face of federal uncertainties.
“During these times in which we’re seeing the federal government really pull away from environmental protection. Having just recently EPA announcing that they’re eliminating the office of research and development that, in fact, does really important science like this, the work and collaboration between the Department of Health and DEC is more important than ever to make sure we’re protecting the environment, we’re continuing to protect public health and that’s where the contrast is very real," said Lefton.
Sample processing can take up to a week. Reports are written and sent to the DOH, the state department which makes the recommendations on which fish are safe to eat. Commissioner McDonald tells reporters the collaboration between the agencies is invaluable.
“Not every fish you catch in New York is healthy to eat. So, if you go to our website, health.ny.gov/fish, we have the state broken down by region. There’s information so you can find out, is this fish safe to eat? Are there PCBs in it? Are there forever chemicals, is there mercury in it? Other heavy metals in it? Because really, fish is healthy food – I want you to eat healthy food. When I think about being a healthy human being, fish is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. So, what we’re really trying to do is make sure when you chose food in New York State that you’ve caught here you have a healthy option. And the fish you catch, you know if you can eat it. If you can’t eat it? Might as well throw it back, my friend,” said McDonald.
