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NATIONAL LISTING OF FISH AND WILDLIFE ADVISORIES (NLFWA)
Description:
Resource Purpose:Beginning in 1993, EPA?s Fish Contamination Program began publishing The National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories (NLFWA). This database includes all available information describing state-, tribal-, and federally issued fish consumption advisories in the United States for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories and has been expanded to include the 12 Canadian provinces and territories. The NLFWA contains information provided to EPA by the states, tribes, and Canada as of December 1997. This includes advisories issued by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission for several Native American tribes in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The number of advisories in the U.S. rose by 125 in 1997 to a total of 2,299, a 5% increase over 1996. The number of waterbodies under advisory represents 16.5% of the Nation?s total lake acres and 8.2% of the Nation?s total river miles. The number of individual advisories includes advisories issued by twelve states and the District of Columbia which cover all lakes and/or rivers. In addition, 100% of the Great Lakes waters and their connecting waters and a large portion of the Nation?s coastal waters are also under advisory. The total number of advisories in the U.S. increased for three major contaminants (mercury, dioxin, and DDT). The NLFWA is updated annually. Beginning in 1996, the U.S. EPA contacted health officials in Canada in an effort to identify fish consumption advisories in effect. The number of Canadian advisories rose by 26 in 1997 to a total of 2,625, less than a 1% increase over 1996. All of the current Canadian fish advisories have resulted from contamination from one or more of the following five pollutants: mercury, PCBs, dioxins/furans, toxaphene, and mirex. Of the 2,572 advisories, 94% resulted from mercury contamination in fish tissues. In addition, 86% were issued by the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Two province wide advisories for mercury are in effect for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Legislation/Enabling Authority:Clean Water Act, As Amended - Sec 104 (b)
Supported Program:Office of Water
Data Type:
Primary Data Type:
Monitoring
Compliance
Permit
Geographical Data Stored By:
Latitude - Longitude
Reach File 3
Data Represented By:
Points
Lines
Measurement Methods:
Map interpolation or state coverages provided
System Access Privileges:
Access Methods:
Resource Website
Update Methods:
Resource Website
Other
Other Methods:
Send data to Contractor
Resources Accessible By:
Public
States
Regions
DataSubs
All EPA
Other
Resources Updatable By:
DataSubs
Other
Contractor
CBI Security:
No
Data Collection:Varies by state/tribes. EPA target is to enter and display new information within 1-2 weeks of release of information by states/tribes.
Range of Data Start:
1993
Range of Data End:
Present
Range of Data:
States and tribes (or EPA) update advisory online as new advisory information becomes available. In most cases, updates occur on an annual basis.