Information should be in English, Spanish and Hmong, be free of jargon so people can easily understand them and describe consumption information about the kinds of fish that people catch in the particular waterway. Furthermore, the County should work with the communities affected to create these signs.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Contact your County Supervisor

Please let your County Supervisor know you support this measure; you can email your supervisor (and let all the other Supervisors know of your support) at county_board_recipients@co.dane.wi.us. If you don't know who your Supervisor is, go to www.co.dane.wi.us/coboard/supervisor.aspx to find out.

Send a Letter

Click here to send a letter to the editor of your local paper.

Attend a public meeting
where this resolution will be discussed and voted on

Feb. 5 – County Environment, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee meeting (1 Fen Oak Ct, Room 208 at 5:30 pm)
Feb. 14 – County Lakes & Watershed Commission meeting (City-County Bldg, 210 MLK Jr. Blvd, Rm. 431 at 5:15 pm)
??????? – Personnel & Finance Committee meeting (not scheduled yet)
??????? – County Board meeting (not scheduled yet)

Ask other to help

Get others involved—ask them to do any of the above.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FISH ADVISORY SIGNS

• In general consumption of fish from Madison lakes is good—the fish are a free, local, nutritious and natural food that all cultures eat.
• Unfortunately, mercury, PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides and other toxins make it necessary for people to limit their consumption of many of the fish caught in Dane County waters. Yet there are no signs posted anywhere along the shoreline to notify anglers of the risks.
• The lack of any signs along shoreline spots where people fish is important since shoreline anglers are often low-income and minority people who are not aware of the fish advisories.
• Posted signs, in Hmong, Spanish, and English, at least would provide information to help them make safer decisions about consuming fish.
• Environmental problems that disproportionately affect people of color and the poor are environmental justice issues; thus the need to provide public health information to shoreline anglers who are often minority and/or poor.
• Public agencies have little or no data about toxins other than mercury and PCBs; therefore PAHs, pesticides, arsenic, cooper, lead, zinc and other chemicals are not included in any advisories, though they are known carcinogens (meaning they cause cancer) or cause neurological and developmental problems.
• Public agencies have little interaction with local anglers and their families who eat large amounts of locally caught fish. Women of child bearing age, pregnant women and children are especially at risk for developmental, congenital and long term risk from exposure to toxins present in locally caught fish. The environmental impacts of pollution on low-income and minority citizens are often unknown or underestimated because of a lack of data collection, and lack of consideration of these populations in determining public policy.
• The common good and sound public health policy is served by informing anglers and others of potential risks associated with consuming many kinds of locally caught fish.
• Local efforts to "clean up the lakes' focus on agricultural and stormwater runoff that increases the nutrient loads in the water, resulting in large amounts of algae and aquatic plant growth. None of these efforts address reducing toxins in the water, sediment, aquatic plants and animals, nor human health impacts. A comprehensive "clean up the lakes" program would address toxins and human and animal health.
• MEJO has been working with the Northside Hmong community and others for the past two years discussing and addressing concerns related to catching and eating fish from Madison lakes. MEJO aims to build collaborative partnerships, to identify the local environmental and/or public health issues, and to envision solutions and empower the community through education, training, and outreach.
• MEJO has been asking state and county officials to install translated advisory signs since August 2006. On Sept. 20, 2007, about 60 MEJO members, anglers and others gathered at Brittingham Park to post their own fish advisory signs around Monona Bay, demonstrating the need for public institutions to acknowledge and address the problems with toxin levels in locally-caught fish.