Surveying urban anglers with community partner input to assess contamination risk and inform environmental management

Abstract

Fishing for food in urban areas is common across the world, but the health risks of consuming contaminated fish and shellfish are often understudied and underreported, as are the demographics of urban angling communities. We worked with community partners from governmental and local organizations in New Haven, Connecticut, USA to better understand the behaviors, perceptions, and values of urban anglers, and to identify contaminant risks and risk mitigation strategies. With community partner input, we designed and disseminated a survey to urban anglers in the city. Results indicate that fishing for food is prevalent among anglers in New Haven, that anglers target common game species for consumption, and that anglers are generally concerned about the health risks and contributing factors of fish contamination. With the survey results in mind, we identified mitigation actions with community partners that could abate adverse health risks to New Haven anglers. Overall, the strategies that most community partners agreed would be both effective and feasible included updating long-form advisories, improving and increasing the signage around known popular fishing locations (especially those close to point-source pollution sites), hosting community-led educational opportunities for anglers, and expanding water quality and fish contaminant monitoring.