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Puget Sound Fish Consumption Advisory Areas

 

RMA = Recreational Marine Area

RMA 6 – East Juan de Fuca Strait

RMA 7 – San Juan Islands

RMA 8.1 – Deception Pass, Hope Island, Skagit Bay

RMA 8.2 – Port Susan, Port Gardner

RMA 9 – Admiralty Inlet

RMA 10 – Seattle/Bremerton

RMA 11 – Tacoma-Vashon

RMA 12 – Hood Canal

RMA 13 – South Puget Sound

 

DOH Puget Sound Fish and Shellfish Consumption Advice

Puget Sound Links

  • For definition of boundaries for each recreational marine area check the Marine Area Definitions and Codes (pdf) from the Washington Fish and Wildlife regulations.

  • Puget Sound Partnership 
    Web site provides information about community effort of citizens, governments, tribes, scientists, and businesses working together to restore and protect Puget Sound.

  • Department of Ecology Washington Waters Web page is a campaign to provide a framework to help people change some of their behaviors that pollute Washington's lakes, rivers, wetlands, and marine waters.

Back to Fish Advisory State Map

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has completed an assessment of contaminants in Puget Sound fish. The assessment considered data gathered by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife under the Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program (PSAMP). DOH has used this assessment to update advice on eating fish as part of a healthy diet. To learn more read our fact sheet. (pdf 231kb) or the report "Human Health Evaluation of Contaminants in Puget Sound Fish".

Main Contaminants

The main contaminants of concern are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury which, once released into the environment, move up through the food chain into fish, marine mammals, and humans. Mercury and PCBs have been shown to cause behavioral and learning deficits in children exposed in the womb, so meal limits of certain fish are especially important for women of childbearing age and young children.

Choose Salmon

While Washingtonians are encouraged to choose salmon as an excellent choice for a meal, the report recommends limiting Puget Sound Chinook salmon to one meal per week and resident Chinook (blackmouth) to two meals per month.  The report provides consumption advice for flatfish (e.g., English sole, flounder, sanddab) and rockfish based on the Fish and Wildlife's recreational marine areas as identified by the map on this page.

Eat Fish, Be Smart, Choose Wisely

“It’s good to know that many fish in Puget Sound, especially our salmon, remain a healthy choice for the dinner table,” said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. “Our message is to eat fish, be smart, and choose wisely. We’re providing clear information on the many choices of fish that are low in contamination; let's also be clear about the need to keep toxics out of Puget Sound.”

Healthy Fish Eating Guide

The Department of Health has created the Healthy Fish Eating Guide, a list of fish that are low in contaminants along with those that should be eaten less frequently.  It's a reference that will help people make sure that fish remains part of a healthy diet. This guide highlights many fish commonly available in markets that can be eaten two times per week in accordance with recommendations from the American Heart Association for good heart health.

 

 
 

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Environmental Health Assessments

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Last Update: Friday, May 15, 2009