California EPA Office Updates Advisory For Fish Consumption Recommendations From Lake Mendocino
Fish Advisory Update for Lake Mendocino Offers Safe-Eating Advice for Six Species
June 26, 2025
SACRAMENTO – Today, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued an updated fish consumption advisory for Lake Mendocino, located five miles northeast of the city of Ukiah, in Mendocino County. The update adds safe-eating advice for Channel Catfish, Common Carp, and silverside species to the existing advice for black bass species, Striped Bass, and sunfish species.
OEHHA’s Good Catch California program routinely develops fish advisories so Californians can make healthy choices about the fish they catch in waterbodies across the state.
“If you eat fish from Lake Mendocino, check our newly updated Lake Mendocino Fish Advisory. It can help you decide which fish to eat and how much,” said OEHHA Director Dr. Kris Thayer. “We added guidance for several more species in this version.”
OEHHA developed these recommendations based on the levels of mercury found in fish caught in the lake. Our advisories balance the health benefits of eating fish against the risk from harmful contaminants. Historic mining and coal burning released mercury into the environment, where it can accumulate in fish. Because mercury affects brain development,particularly in developing children and fetuses, OEHHA provides advice tailored to two groups based on sex and age.
For Lake Mendocino, OEHHA provides the following safe-eating advice:
Women (18 – 49 years) and children (1 – 17 years)
- Should not eat black bass species or Striped Bass.
- May eat the following on a weekly basis:
- Two total servings of Common Carp, or
- One total serving of Channel Catfish, silverside species, or sunfish species.
Women (50 years and older) and men (18 years and older)
- May eat the following on a weekly basis:
- Five total servings of Common Carp, or
- Three total servings of silverside species, or
- Two total servings of Channel Catfish or sunfish species, or
- One total serving of black bass species or Striped Bass.
One serving for adults is an eight-ounce fish fillet, measured before cooking, which is roughly the size and thickness of your hand. For small fish species, several individual fish may make up a single eight-ounce serving. Children should eat servings of less than eight ounces. Eating fish in amounts slightly greater than the advisory’s recommendations is not likely to cause health problems if it is done only occasionally, such as eating fish caught during an annual vacation.
A poster with safe-eating advice for Lake Mendocino is available on OEHHA’s website in both English and Spanish. For fish species found in Lake Mendocino that are not included in this advisory, OEHHA recommends following its statewide advisory for eating fish from California lakes and reservoirs without site-specific advice.
OEHHA’s fish advisory recommendations are based on the levels of contaminants, such as mercury, that persist in the environment and accumulate in fish. They are independent of any shorter-term advisories to limit fish intake due to freshwater or estuarine harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can produce toxins harmful to humans. Before fishing, check the California HAB Reports Map to see if there are HAB advisories and always practice healthy water habits.
The Lake Mendocino advisory joins more than 150 other OEHHA advisories that provide site-specific, health-based fish consumption advice for many places where people catch and eat fish in California, including lakes, rivers, bays, reservoirs and the California coast. Advisories are available on OEHHA’s Fish Advisories webpage.
OEHHA’s mission is to protect and enhance the health of Californians and the environment through scientific evaluations that inform, support, and guide regulatory and other actions in the state.
