Fish Consumption Practices among Frequent Consuming Fishers of Five Ontario Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs)

Abstract

Adequate information on diversity in fish consumption patterns remains an important area of uncertainty for targeting of fish contaminant monitoring programs and environmental health risk assessments. Via shore surveys and community contacts among fishers from five Ontario AOCs, we recruited 91 frequent consumers of Great Lakes (GL) fish. Through personal interviews using a questionnaire and fish portion models, we solicited information on fish and aquatic wildlife consumption and preparation practices. For descriptive purposes, we grouped participants into European/Canadian/USborn (EC) (n = 47) and Asian-born (AC) (n = 44). The three species most frequently eaten by the AC group were rock bass, largemouth bass, and white bass, in contrast to yellow perch, walleye, and smallmouth bass among EC. During meal preparation, both groups removed the fat and tended to fry the fish. EC tended to eat the fillets and steaks, with AC eating a wider variety of fish parts. Portion sizes varied by species, country of origin, and gender, ranging from the smallest median of 104 gm for catfish to the largest median value of 692 gm for walleye. Average number of GL fish meals consumed varied greatly (range = 26–501 meals) with AC participants reporting greater numbers of meals than EC participants, particularly in the summer (p = .013). The estimated median grams of GL fish consumed per day ranged from 46 gm among AC men to 199 gm among EC men. The diversity of fishing and consumption patterns has implications for both fish monitoring programs and health risk assessments.