August 6, 2018 –People are eating fish they catch in New Bedford Harbor despite a public awareness campaign against it.
In a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency survey of people seen fishing in 2017, 56 people said they catch and eat fish from the inner or outer harbor, known as Areas 1 and 2. That’s 81 percent of people who were willing to answer.
For the last few years, the New England EPA office has hired local people, some bilingual or trilingual, to visit fishing spots in spring, summer and fall. They talk to people fishing from shore in New Bedford and Fairhaven, both inside and outside the hurricane barrier.
In 2017, survey workers recorded making 111 visits to 18 locations. They observed 252 people fishing and spoke with 218 people, not all of whom were fishing at the time.
Fishers reported catching a variety of species in the harbor, including scup, tautog, bluefish, striped bass and sea bass.
While not much has changed since 2016, EPA spokeswoman Kelsey Dumville said the good news is that not many people reported frequently eating fish from the most contaminated portion of the harbor, Area 1, which includes everything north of the hurricane barrier.