Document 9OyeypjJQG9zvDd9wjvqZbb6

flmriMEs 0. 30,000 MAR 7 1976 N.Y. ban on fishing came By Todd Strasser Middletown, N.Y., Record RED HOOK -- State Conservation Commissioner Ogden Reid's announcement of a partial ban on commercial fishing in the Hudson River because of high levels of PCB (poly* chiorinalod byphenyls) in rTver'fish did not come as a surprise to fishermen. Warnings against eating river fish issued by (he Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) last fall gave rise to speculation then lhat Reid might close the river. Some fishermen had even curtailed their fishing early last year. There is growing evidence that PCB cause cancer, Reid said. A number of fishermen who catch died during Ute fish's annual spring spawning run up the river expressed dismay that the small herringllke fish was the exception to the ban. Iteid said that conditional permits to fish (or shad would be issued, but if PCB foments In this year's shad were high, (Jh< permits would be withdrawn. "The fishermen shouldn't have to prepare for the season and put money into nets and equipment if they're not going to be allowed to fish," said Raymond Minard, a part-time shad /isherman. "They should close the shad fishing , for this year and get their homework done," said Warren Spinnanweber, a Port Ewen shad fisherman. Another fisherman pointed out that even if shad fishing is allowed, there's been so much publicity about PCB that many people won't buy Ute fish. Reid said Ute federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggested the ban because tests showed most river fish exceeded the FDA limit for PCB of five parts per million (ppm). The average PCB contents in river fish were: 4ft ppm In American eela; 16 in sturgeon, 10 in large- and smallmouth bass; 17 in striped bass; 17 in yellow perch, and 14 In blue crab. American shad, however, ahowed an average of only 2.5 ppm, thus leading Reid to suggest that shad not be banned unless tests this spring show contents higher than five ppm. The implications of the ban reach far Into the AUanUc and to other states along Ute northeast seaboard, Reid said. Both shad and striped bass spawn in the Hudson and then swim Into the as no surprise ocean, where they account for a considerable part of the commercial fishing take each year. Both fish, but especially the striped bass, are also sought by sports fishermen and often wind up on the family dinner table. Reid said he alao wiJ) warn sports fishermen to restrict their intake of fish caught in the Hudson. Possibly 60 to 10 per cent of all the striped bass caught in the northeast each year spawn in the Hudson, a study by the Atomic Energy Commission showed, and fish from the river may account for as much as 1100 million of the northeast's annual catch, environmentalists say. Reid, not unsympathetic to the fishermen, said he has discussed the possibility of the state or federal Government paying damages to river Ishermen whose incomes will suffer. Another development that caused concern among the fishermen who met with Reid was the news that effort# to prevent the General Electric Co. from dumping more PCB into the Hudson at Its Fort Edwards and Hudson Falls plants will not quickly end the PCB problem. .. There was also little consolation In the news that the FDA Is considering lowering its maximum permitted levels of PCB in food from five ppm to two or even 1.5 ppm. Even if PCB pollution is stopped, the PCB now in the Hudson River bed and sediment will be there for many year to come, Reid said. He said at least half the people in the room that afternoon probably had PCB in their blood. No scientific method has been found yet to remove PCB from the river, Reid said. A Maryland scientist, Dr. Edgar W. Garbish, is experimenting with river grasses that apparently absorb PCB, he -s-a-id-.-- --------------- RONS 037129