The Sierra Fund has set the date for our fourth annual volunteer-powered Post It Day event to post state-issued fish consumption advisories at regional water bodies. Mark your calendar for Sunday, May 6, 2018!
Listen to our Post It Day interview on KVMR
The goal of this project is to increase access to important guidelines for making healthy fish choices, especially for those with a higher exposure risk, such as women of childbearing age and children, and groups who consume large quantities of fish as part of cultural or subsistence diets.
Check out our Post It Day Fact Sheet to learn more
We are holding Post It Day 2018 in conjunction with Know Your Watershed Week, a collaboration of numerous local nonprofits that will host education and outreach activities aimed at raising public awareness about our watersheds and what conservation organizations are doing to protect water resources. Know Your Watershed Week runs from Saturday, April 28 – Sunday, May 6.
What’s new this year?
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the state agency that issues fish consumption advisories, is in the process of updating the design and graphics of advisories in order to clearly and concisely communicate safe eating guidelines based on contamination levels (primarily mercury) in various species of fish. Volunteers will post the updated version of the Statewide Advisory for CA Lakes and Reservoirs Without Site-Specific Advice at numerous water bodies where it applies during Post It Day 2018.
Where will advisories be posted?
During this one-day event, volunteers will travel to posting locations as close as Hirschman’s Pond in Nevada City and as far abroad as Little Grass Valley Reservoir in the Plumas National Forest. Mid-range destinations include Donner Lake, Englebright Lake, Camp Far West and Lake Clementine.
Want to get involved?
Volunteers make this event possible! To join the team, contact Kelsey Westfall at (530) 265-8454 x217 or kelsey.westfall@sierrafund.org.
Why is posting important?
Due to a history of gold mining in our region, a number of Sierra Nevada watersheds are impacted with mercury, which can be incorporated into the food web, making certain species of fish unsafe to consume in unrestricted quantities. By posting fish consumption advisories at popular fishing locations, we increase the likelihood that anglers and the public will see the guidelines and change their fish consumption habits to eat less high-mercury fish such as bass, and instead consume low-mercury options such as rainbow trout.