Friday, October 10, 2003

JEREMIAH STETTLER
THE SAGINAW NEWS

Saginaw walleye festivals won't bob, let alone sink, next year as a result of the latest dioxin study, organizers say.

A report the state Department of Environmental Quality released Wednesday suggested that fish-eating animals along the Tittabawassee River are at risk of low fertility and higher rates of embryo death because of dioxin contamination.

However, Freeland Walleye Festival organizer Rick Hayes said fishing lines will keep dropping for the suburb's event.

"It won't have any effect," he said.

The Saginaw News sponsors the Shiver on the River Walleye Contest each winter. Contestants may enter fish caught in the Saginaw Bay or any of its tributaries, which include the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers.

Tammy Weighman, community service and marketing coordinator for The News, also said the study will have no impact on the contest.

Although some anglers cast along the Tittabawassee River, she said, most dip their lines into the Saginaw River and bay.

Eating the fish is not the contest's primary attraction, Weighman said.

"If someone has a concern about the fish, it is not going to stop them from going out and enjoying the sport," she said. "Many people just throw the fish back anyway. They just enjoy the thrill of catching them."

Although the study found dioxin levels that could harm some fish-eating animals, Hayes said the results do not translate into a health risk for anglers or into a concern that would affect the area's walleye festivals.

Not only were the fish sampled whole -- which elevates dioxin levels beyond what a person would ingest -- but the study focused on animals such as mink, river otters and wood ducks that make their diet on fish, Hayes said.

It was not a human health study, he noted.

One more thing, Hayes said: Walleye were not included in the study.

Researchers focused instead on carp, catfish, shad and bass -- species that live in the river full-time -- and excluded walleye, which migrate to Saginaw Bay during the summer.

Dow Chemical Co., which has plants upstream along the Tittabawassee River in Midland, has reported finding dioxin concentrations in walleye fillets between 1 and 2 parts per trillion, lower than the state standard of 10 parts per trillion.

David R. Wade, director of the division of environmental and occupational epidemiology for the state Department of Community Health, confirmed that dioxin levels in walleye are below the standard that would trigger a health advisory.

However, he warned that people should remove fish skin and cook off the fat before eating their catch to reduce dioxin exposure.

Dow Chemical officials remain skeptical of the study's findings.

They said undersized sample groups and "conservative assumptions" by the researcher may have inflated the risk of dioxin to area wildlife. They are awaiting a copy of the report for review.

Dow spokeswoman Sarah R. Opperman maintains that a full ecological study is needed to determine the impact of dioxin contamination on wildlife along the river. t

Jeremiah Stettler is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9685.

© 2003 Saginaw News.