Estimation of fish consumption rates based on a creel angler survey of an urban river in New Jersey, USA

Abstract

A one-year angler intercept survey was conducted on the lower 17 miles of the Passaic River, an urban industrialized river that flows through Newark, New Jersey. The purpose of the survey was to collect data about anglers’ behaviors and fish consumption habits in order to calculate exposure factors for a human health risk assessment of the Study Area. This paper focuses on estimating site-specific fish consumption rates for LPRSA anglers that consume their catch. The study design included on-site interviews and counts (angler enumeration). Forty survey locations were included in the stratified random sampling plan; interviews were conducted on 136 days and counts on 164 days. After matching intercepts with the same angler, a total of 294 anglers were interviewed, of which 25 reported consuming their catch. LPRSA fishing trips ranged from 2 to nearly 50 annual trips for anglers who reported consuming their catch. Species caught and reported to be consumed included carp, catfish, white perch, smallmouth bass, and eel. The estimated mean and 90th percentile consumption rates for the population of consuming anglers are 5.0 and 8.8 g/day, respectively. Based on sensitivity analyses, the 90th percentile fish consumption rates range from approximately 4 to 18 g/day.

Keywords:

• Fish
• consumption
• angler
• survey
• Lower Passaic River

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Lower Passaic River Study Area Cooperating Parties Group for completion of the study. In addition, we would like to acknowledge the assistance of several individuals during survey design and administration, including Sergio Capozzi, Jason Kinnell, John Rollino and the staff at QuanTech.

Notes

1 Initially, 60 fishing sites were identified based on the spring 2011 reconnaissance and prior CAS. Individual sites located within a three- to five-minute walk and visible from a central location were grouped and the cluster was treated as one site, resulting in a total of 40 known or potential fishing sites in the LPRSA.