1. A Pilot Program for Monitoring, Stakeholder Involvement, and Risk Communication Relating to Mercury in Fish in the Bay-Delta Watershed (aka The Fish Mercury Project) SFEI UC Davis CDFG DHS/EHIB OEHHA Funding provided by CBDA Presented at the 2006 Mercury Coordination Meeting

2. How can we minimize methylmercury exposure? Longer Term Solution for Humans and Wildlife Adaptive management of water quality and restoration (actions and monitoring) Tracking regional trends in biotic exposure Tracking local trends near restoration and cleanup projects Shorter Term Solution for Humans Only Identify high and low areas and species Develop consumption advice Communicate risk information to the public

3. Risk Commun- ication Advisory Development Biosentinel Sampling Sport Fish Sampling Project Elements

4. Year 1 Sampling Plan Steering Committee input Review Panel input Discussions with restoration managers Close coordination with other major programs Fishing activity information Review of historical sampling Detailed tables (matrices) documenting site selection

5. Sport Fish Sampling, 2005

8. Sport fish species sampled (# sites) largemouth bass (47) white catfish (24) striped bass Sacramento pikeminnow (17) Bluegill (34) redear sunfish (40) common carp (25) Sacramento sucker (29) channel catfish (25) black crappie (11) black bullhead pumpkinseed Sacramento perch rainbow trout hitch smallmouth bass spotted bass chinook salmon Steelhead About 1600 fish collected 66 sites total (including Foe study and SRWP) 7 hatcheries

9. Biosentinel Sampling (UC Davis)

10. Biosentinel Sampling, 2005 Also a few restoration sites further up in the watershed About 10,000 fish collected in 2005

11. Advisory Development, Years 1 – 3 (OEHHA) Linked with sport fish sampling, but primarily based on existing data Year 1 – south Delta, San Joaquin River, Cosumnes River and Mokelumne Rivers and associated reservoirs, Feather River Year 2 – north Delta, Sacramento River, Lake Shasta, other tribs and reservoirs in the Sacramento River watershed Year 3 – Tributaries, creeks, and reservoirs in the San Joaquin River watershed Advisories to be developed using an established protocol Advisory development workplan will undergo peer review

12. Stakeholder Involvement and Risk Communication, Years 1 – 3 (DHS – EHIB) Linked with sport fish sampling and advisory development Stakeholder and risk communication workplan will undergo peer review Includes evaluation of effectiveness

13. Stakeholder Involvement, Years 1 - 3 Fishing activity evaluation (prior to sampling each area) Contact county health agencies Contact DFG wardens and other fishing experts Site visits Focus groups Needs assessments: interviews, focus groups, surveys – focus on risk communication

14. Risk Communication, Years 1 - 3 Communicate with community leaders (fact sheets, newsletters) Educational materials and activities (multi-lingual) Posters, cards, fact sheets Mini grants to CBOs Delta advisory sign Training – building local capacity Forum on fish contamination and public health held in December 2005

15. FMP Annual Meeting on June 13 and 14 Joint meeting of Steering Committee and Review Panel (Knuth, Wiener, Bodaly, Grieb, McCann) Results of 2005 sampling Plans for 2006 sampling Progress and plans: advisory development Progress and plans: fishing activity assessment, risk communication Annual technical report

16. For more information: www.sfei.org/cmr/fishmercury Biosentinels Darell Slotton dgslotton@ucdavis.edu Stakeholder Involvement and Risk Communication Alyce Ujihara AUjihara@dhs.ca.gov Advisory Development Robert Brodberg rbrodber@oehha.ca.gov Sport Fish Sampling & Analysis Gary Ichikawa gichikawa@mlml.calstate.edu Project Management and Sport Fish Jay Davis, Jennifer Hunt jay@sfei.org jhunt@sfei.org

17. THANK YOU! Meg Sedlak Max Delaney Regional Board All of the speakers The audience