Daily News Archive Fish Put Northwest Tribes at Risk A new study
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finds that a variety
of fish from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho are contaminated with
high levels of pesticides and other toxic chemicals. This has
serious implications for people that depend on Northwest fish
for sustenance. The average American eats fish once a month and
Northwest Native Americans 48 times a month. EPA estimates a
70-year-old tribal member eating a regular diet of fish has a
risk of cancer 50 times higher than the average U.S. citizen.
EPA suggested that the local tribes reduce their fish
consumption, a suggestion that angered many affected by the
problem. "Eliminating fish or even reducing fish consumption is
not acceptable. The federal government has an obligation to
produce abundant fish runs and healthy fish," said Charles
Hudson, Intertribal Fish Commission. EPA's study found toxic
levels of 92 different chemicals in Northwest fish - higher
levels of a form of DDT and PCBs in st