LivewellSpecies
Rainbow Smelt
Rainbow Smelt carries consumption advisories on 20 waters across 4 states. Limits depend on the water and the fish's size — a bigger fish has had longer to accumulate contaminants, so it's usually the stricter one.
Contaminants found in rainbow smelt: Dioxins, Mercury, PCBs, PFOS
Advisories are per-water — there is no single answer
The strictest advisory on file for rainbow smelt is For women who may become pregnant, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and children under 15: do not eat due to elevated PCB. Whether that applies to your fish depends entirely on where you caught it. Find your water below.
Where rainbow smelt has advisories
Waters with rainbow smelt advisories
- Lake Michigan Illinois
- Lake Michigan Indiana
- Big Twin Lake Michigan
- Cedar Lake Michigan
- Green Lake Michigan
- Gull Lake Michigan
- Higgins Lake Michigan
- Keweenaw Waterway Michigan
- Lake Huron Michigan
- Lake Michigan Michigan
- Lake Superior Michigan
- North Lake Leelanau Michigan
- Portage Lake Michigan
- Portage River Michigan
- South Lake Leelanau Michigan
- East River to Throgs Neck Bridge 2, 3 (Queens, New York, Kings, Bronx) Harlem River 2, 3 (New York, Bronx) Upper New York Bay, north of Verrazano Narrows Bridge 2, 3 (Kings, New York, Richmond) White perch Up to 1 meal/month DON'T EAT PCBs New York
- Hudson River, Mario Cuomo Bridge to NYC Battery 2, 3 (Bronx, New York, Rockland, Westchester) White perch Up to 1 meal/month Up to 1 meal/month PCBs New York
- Hudson River, Rip Van Winkle Bridge at Catskill to NYC Battery 2, 3, 4 (Bronx, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, New York, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, Westchester) New York
- Hudson River, south of Rip Van Winkle Bridge at Catskill to NYC Battery New York
- Raritan Bay, west of Wolfe's Pond Park 2, 3 (Richmond) New York