Fishing and Fish Habitat Restoration:
Provide Public Information to Restore Lost Fishing Services
The goal of this action is to build on the public outreach and education work initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
through the establishment of the Fish Contamination Education
Collaborative (FCEC) 
. The FCEC is a federal, state, and local partnership project
that addresses public exposure to contaminated fish in the Southern California coastal area. The FCEC focuses on educating the public about the
human health hazards associated with DDT and PCB contamination in fish. In particular, the FCEC provides information to help people reduce their
exposures to DDTs and PCBs from the fish they eat.
The Trustees will expand this ongoing effort to
increase fishing opportunities by providing information to
anglers that helps to make decisions about which species
to keep for consumption. Informational material will be
developed by the Trustees that establish the link between the
ecology and life history of a particular species and level of PCB
and DDT contamination.
The costs of this action, which will include both public
information work and periodic monitoring of fish to supplement the
fish contamination survey currently being completed, are scalable.
Clear opportunities exist to collaborate with the ongoing EPA-funded
efforts to inform the public about fish contamination and safe fish
preparation and consumption. This action will expand these efforts
by focusing on the link between fish ecology and life history and
the risks they impose on their consumers. In particular, the action
will identify the fish species that are safe for
consumption and the locations and habitats where anglers can
catch them.
MSRP Outreach and Education Mini-grants
MSRP has partnered with Cabrillo Marine Aquarium to create an educational
comic book, geared to
children at the 4th - 6th grade level, which tells the story of DDT and PCB contamination off the coast of Southern California and includes information on ways to enjoy and benefit from fishing despite the presence of fishing advisories. In 2006, the Trustees accepted proposals for outreach and education projects providing up to $15,000 in funding. The funding supports the development of curricula, programs or activities to educate young people who consume locally-caught fish (and through them, their parents) on safe ways to enjoy or benefit from fishing along the Los Angeles and Orange County coasts where fish consumption advisories have impacted fishing. Projects will use the comic book and/or concepts outlined in the comic book as a foundation, and draw from educational materials available through EPA's Fish Contamination Education Collaborative. Descriptions of the two projects selected to receive funding in 2007/2008 are below. Another solicitation for outreach proposals was released in Spring 2009.
"What's in your Catch?" - Implementing Practices for Safe Fish Consumption
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (CMA) located in San Pedro, CA has created a fish contamination curriculum that is directed
towards 4th-6th grades and incorporates the concepts of
the comic book "What's The Catch?" Topics covered include history of DDT and
PCB contamination, environmental impacts from contamination, fish species
identification and safe preparation of fish for human consumption. CMA is
currently holding teacher and community workships.
www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org
LACC's
Fun Fishing Program
Los Angeles Conservation Corps' (LACC) SEA Lab located in Redondo Beach,
CA is educating corpsmembers on the benefits of recreational fishing and the
alternatives to consuming contaminated fish species. Five hundred corpsmembers
are expected to participate in this program that started in early 2008.
Participants will learn fish identification, engage in pier fishing,
demonstrate proper handling and releasing of fish, and practice proper
preparation of fish for consumption. http://www.lacorps.org
