What you should know before eating fish from the Delaware

You can eat even more of those fish you've caught in the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, state officials said Tuesday.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, citing improved water quality, has eased many of the restrictions it had in place on the amount of certain fish it says are safe to consume from those waters.

"These changes reflect an ongoing trend in which contaminants from past pollution such as PCBs and pesticides continues to decline," Acting DEP Commissioner Anne McCabe said.

McCabe said anyone catching fish from the river or bay should review the DEP's fish advisories so they can make "sound decisions" on what type of fish they should eat and how much.

Among the key changes include removing all advisories for weakfish for both the general population and those considered to be at higher risk.

The DEP also increased the acceptable consumption limit for all finfish caught in the Delaware River south of the Delaware-Pennsylvania border to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to three meals per year compared with the previous limit of one fish meal per year.

High-risk individuals, which include women of child-bearing age and children, continue to be advised to eat no fish from this area.

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In addition, the DEP announced Tuesday it has revised its recommendations for consumption of bluefish caught in Delaware Bay from one meal per year for fish that are less than six pounds or smaller than 24 inches to a new recommendation of one meal per month for any fish less than 20 inches long for all groups.

The DEP has also revised its general population recommendations in Delaware Bay for consumption of bluefish larger than 20 inches from "do not eat" to three meals per year.

While water quality in New Jersey continues to improve, past pollution can persist for many years in sediments and continue to accumulate in fish at or near the top of the aquatic food chain. As a result, some recreationally caught fish can contain mercury, PCBs and pesticides that may be unhealthy for children or women of child-bearing age.

Since the river and bay waters are shared with the First State, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control was to make announcements that mirror New Jersey's, the DEP said.

There is a special DEP site which has advisories for how much fish caught in New Jersey waters is recommended to eat. Find the information at www.FishSmartEatSmartNJ.org

Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

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