Following the results of recent tests for mercury in fish, the Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry, and the Chief Health Officer of Prince Edward Island are recommending that the public not keep fish caught in O’Keefe’s Lake. Testing for mercury has occurred in this lake since 1998 and levels have been slowly rising over the years. The most recent samples taken from seven trout caught by anglers in September 2008 showed an average level of 0.76 micrograms of mercury per gram of fish. The Health Canada guideline for consumption of fish recommends avoiding those in which mercury exceeds 0.5 micrograms per gram. Tests were carried out over the winter at the Environment Canada laboratory in Moncton, N.B.

O’Keefe’s Lake is one of two landlocked lakes in the province that have been annually stocked with trout and open to fishing throughout the year. Because there is no drainage from these lakes, mercury tends to concentrate in the fish that live there.

Based on this finding, Dr. Heather Morrison, Chief Health Officer, has recommended the following:

• Fishing be “catch and release” only in O’Keefe’s Lake.

• The Province of Prince Edward Island not continue to stock O’Keefe’s Lake with fish.

• The Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry look more closely into the high levels of mercury in O’Keefe’s Lake.

• Signage at O’Keefe’s Lake and warnings in the Angling Summary be continued.

“The health risk of mercury increases with the amount and frequency of fish someone eats, but the level found in O’Keefe’s Lake is high enough that, given

Dr. Morrison’s warning, I would recommend that no one keep fish caught from this lake,” said Richard Brown, Minister of Environment, Energy and Forestry. “Our departmental staff will continue to monitor mercury levels in O’Keefe’s Lake and throughout the province.”

High levels of mercury have been shown to have harmful effects on the nervous systems of young children, and also on unborn children whose mothers eat fish containing high levels of mercury.

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