I've got a question for those more knowledgeable than I (which should be anyone on this). With the algae blooms Mantua gets, is it still safe to eat the fish caught there? I know they recommend some caution during the times it's present, but does anything stay in the fish afterward? Do you feel comfortable catching and eating them during the blooms, or after?
My wife, kid and I just started fishing last year and don't want to be too paranoid, but it's had me curious.
Mantua has not received nearly the amount of study and press that Utah Lake has had. I am attaching a couple of PDF files on the findings on algae and cyanotoxins from Utah Lake. These do a good job of explaining what the potential problems might be.
I have been following the Utah Lake situation for several years. I have attended a few meetings of the Utah Lake Commission and have had access to quite a few of the news releases and studies. My understanding of the algae situation in Mantua is that it is not nearly as serious or long-lasting as that in Utah Lake. And the overall consensus for Utah Lake is that exposure to...or drinking...the algae infected water is more dangerous than eating the fish during an algae bloom.
In short, in spite of the fact that lots of folks still keep and eat fish from Utah Lake during algae blooms there has been no verifiable incidence of someone suffering a medical condition as a result of eating fish with algae contamination. And, as the one PDF file points out, properly cleaning the fish...and removing all the guts and oily tissues...will greatly reduce whatever cyanotoxins have accumulated in the fish. But...as also pointed out...each person has to decide individually what course they wish to follow.
(02-03-2022, 01:41 PM)TubeDude Wrote: Mantua has not received nearly the amount of study and press that Utah Lake has had. I am attaching a couple of PDF files on the findings on algae and cyanotoxins from Utah Lake. These do a good job of explaining what the potential problems might be.
I have been following the Utah Lake situation for several years. I have attended a few meetings of the Utah Lake Commission and have had access to quite a few of the news releases and studies. My understanding of the algae situation in Mantua is that it is not nearly as serious or long-lasting as that in Utah Lake. And the overall consensus for Utah Lake is that exposure to...or drinking...the algae infected water is more dangerous than eating the fish during an algae bloom.
In short, in spite of the fact that lots of folks still keep and eat fish from Utah Lake during algae blooms there has been no verifiable incidence of someone suffering a medical condition as a result of eating fish with algae contamination. And, as the one PDF file points out, properly cleaning the fish...and removing all the guts and oily tissues...will greatly reduce whatever cyanotoxins have accumulated in the fish. But...as also pointed out...each person has to decide individually what course they wish to follow.
I wouldn't hesitate, myself. The science on Mantua is less conclusive that these blooms really occur, although they're pretty sure they have. They are not as large or widespread and don't last as long.
However, toxicity of fish to humans disappears shortly after the bloom does, and the blooms don't really happen in winter. In Utah Lake fish I've been eating fish as soon as the weather cools appreciably (Late Sept, or so), as long as the advisories weren't still up.
There are a couple of other considerations. First, not all algae is created equal. Almost all of Utah's ponds develop some algae during the warmer months each year. But much of it is the ugly but harmless plain old green goo. The bad stuff is the blue green algae that produces cyanotoxin. The nasty stuff seems to occur mainly where there is an overabundance of excess nutrients...like nitrogen and phosphorus. And those particular nutrients are generally the result of sewage inflows...even if treated.
Only a few of the sewage treatment facilities around Utah Lake have upgrades that allow them to remove a high percentage of these nutrients. Since upgrading is time consuming and costly, it is not likely to see the other plants making any changes in the near future.
As far as Mantua is concerned, there are relatively small amounts of excess nutrients being dumped in that small lake. So the potential for large toxic algae outbreaks is much less.
I am attaching another PDF file that points out the problem in Utah Lake.
