Nakanishi backs bill to warn of mercury in fish

Manteca resident Leonard Hughes said he doesn't go fishing very often.

In fact, the 49-year-old said Thursday that the only reason he was out fishing this day was because his daughter, Kihana McClendon, 7, is up from San Diego for a short spell.

"She just wanted to catch something," Hughes said.

While father and daughter came away empty handed, Hughes said if he had caught something he probably would have thrown it back into the San Joaquin River, or he would have given the day's catch to a neighbor.

But if Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi, R-Lodi, has his way, Hughes might think twice of the practice of giving his day's catch to neighbors.

Nakanishi is sponsoring a bill that would have the state post signs along all waterways warning of the dangers of eating too much fish because of the levels of mercury.

Actually, it's been a warning that's been around since 1994, when the Environmental Protection Agency began warning fishers of the mercury level in some of their catches, particularly the older and darker fish. But the warning hasn't spread throughout the state's waterways where people fish.

Nakanishi and fellow Assemblyman Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, want to change that. Nakanishi said that fish caught in the Sacramento River have had a high level of mercury.

In December 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the EPA advised pregnant women, women of childbearing years and young children to eat only small amounts of fish because of mercury contamination.

Some of the mercury in the state's waterways comes from the Gold Rush days, when the metal was used to expose the gold. The state is also a natural repository for mercury ore.

Two mines, though unused since the 1980s, are still sending mercury into the state's waterways, according to Faultline, an environmental publication of the Earth Island Institute.

The mines contaminate 11 of the waterways where the state has issued warnings about mercury-laden fish.

While Hughes doesn't fish much or eat the catch from the San Joaquin River, many of the county's Southeast Asian residents do, said Pheng Lo, executive director of Loa Family of Stockton, and Sovanna Koeurt, executive director of Asian Pacific Self Development and Residential Association.

Lo said that many Laotians and Hmong don't pay any attention to the mercury in the fish, and don't know where their illness comes from later.

"It's the most consumed product in our culture because it's low fat," Koeurt said.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there more than 64,000 Southeast Asians in the county, and most Southeast Asians eat fish, whether from the store or locally caught, Koeurt said. She said she eats about two to three servings of fish every week, though she's not sure if it's from the store or a friend who caught it in the San Joaquin River -- though she plans to keep eating it anyhow.

Koeurt said there's not much worry among her people, because Cambodia's lack of industries means toxins in food are rare.

Still, she said, she's recently noticed that many Cambodians are experiencing kidney problems, but no one understood what happened until someone explained about the mercury.

Nakanishi said his bill might not go far, though, if it costs the state money.

"Last year, if any appropriations cost money, it wasn't passed," he said. "Money is a factor."

That's why he suggested that the county Board of Supervisors take up the issue locally to push for the signs in the county.

But Supervisor Leroy Ornellas said he's unsure about the county's involvement.

"It's an interesting idea," he said. But he said he's concerned the signs could open the county to liability. And while money would also be an issue for the county, he said, it would be a one-time cost. He said there are also questions for what county agency would install the signs, who would write the language, and who would monitor the mercury levels in the fish.

"It's something worth considering," he said.

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