12-04-2002, 01:49 PM
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Well, it's happened to another of my favorite small Arizona lakes. Parker Canyon Lake has been found to have fish with elevated levels of mercury in their flesh and a warning has been issued against eating several species. Most likely to have mercury concentrations above the "safe" level are largemouths, northern pike and black bullheads (sorry Critters).[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Apparently sunfish and channel cats are not yet on the list of being potentially dangerous. Also, trout are not listed because they are mostly planted from hatcheries and do not remain in the ecosystem long enough to concentrate the mercury in their tissues.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Strangely, the water itself does not test positive for high levels of mercury. According to the article in The Arizona Republic, the biologists speculate it is entering the food chain from terrestrial insects. They supposedly pick it up from eating plant materials that grow in areas contaminated by old time mining operations. Sounds strange to me.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I lost Pena Blanca and Arivaca to mercury a long time ago. I used to love to fish those little lakes from a float tube, and I did enjoy an occasional meal of sunfish, crappies or kittyfish. But, since I don't want to glow in the dark, I have taken my tube to safer waters.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Anyone who wants to read the entire article can find it here:
[url "http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1204Fish04.html"][#800080]http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1204Fish04.html[/#800080][/url] [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Apparently sunfish and channel cats are not yet on the list of being potentially dangerous. Also, trout are not listed because they are mostly planted from hatcheries and do not remain in the ecosystem long enough to concentrate the mercury in their tissues.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Strangely, the water itself does not test positive for high levels of mercury. According to the article in The Arizona Republic, the biologists speculate it is entering the food chain from terrestrial insects. They supposedly pick it up from eating plant materials that grow in areas contaminated by old time mining operations. Sounds strange to me.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I lost Pena Blanca and Arivaca to mercury a long time ago. I used to love to fish those little lakes from a float tube, and I did enjoy an occasional meal of sunfish, crappies or kittyfish. But, since I don't want to glow in the dark, I have taken my tube to safer waters.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Anyone who wants to read the entire article can find it here:
[url "http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1204Fish04.html"][#800080]http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1204Fish04.html[/#800080][/url] [/size][/font]
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