Uh oh: better go easy on the walleye. SDPB reports that sixteen lakes have state advisories that fish caught therein may have high mercury levels. The Department of Health lists those lakes and the potentially mercurial fish:
| County | Lake | Fish Species |
| Brookings/Kingsbury | Twin Lakes | Walleye - 18" & larger Northern Pike - 19" & larger |
| Brown | Elm Lake | Walleye - 25" & larger |
| Butte | Newell Lake | Walleye - 18" & larger Northern Pike - over 18" |
| Clark | Reid Lake | Walleye - over 23" |
| Swan Lake | Walleye - over 21" | |
| Codington | Long Lake | Walleye - over 17" |
| Corson | Pudwell Dam | Walleye -18" & larger Black Crappie - over 12" |
| Day | Bitter Lake | Walleye - all sizes Northern Pike - 30" & larger |
| Lake Minnewasta | Walleye -18" & larger | |
| Middle Lynn Lake | Walleye -18" & larger | |
| Opitz | Northern Pike - over 26" | |
| Dewey | Lake Isabel | Northern Pike - 25" & larger Largemouth Bass - 17" & larger |
| Kingsbury/Brookings | Twin Lakes | Walleye - 18" & larger Northern Pike - 19" & larger |
| McCook/Minnehaha | Island Lake | Walleye - 18" & larger Smallmouth Bass - 18" & larger |
| Minnehaha | Twin Lakes | Walleye - all sizes |
| Perkins | Coal Springs Reservoir | Northern Pike - over 25" |
| Potter | Lake Hurley | Largemouth Bass - 18" & larger |
| Tripp | Lake Roosevelt | Largemouth Bass -18" & larger Northern Pike - over 24" |
Lake Herman walleye are still good! Pass that frying pan!
If you're healthy, you should partake in the fish listed in the above lakes no more than once a week. Child-bearing and child-suckling women and children under seven should not eat such fish more than once a month.
Alas, these high mercury levels aren't unusual, says Pat Snyder of the DENR. But what's causing this fish pollution?
“A lot has to do with the flooding, the changes in lake elevation over time, the vegetation that’s flooded," Snyder says. "There’s air deposition rates that can alter over time. All of those kind of contribute in to what the particular mercury level in the lake is going to be” [Heidi Kornaizl, "Consumption Advisories Posted Due to High Mercury Levels in South Dakota Lakes," SDPB.org, 2014.07.17].
Flooding contributes to mercury contamination in fish by releasing previously emitted and absorbed mercury pollution from the soil. Coal-fired power plants are a significant source of mercury contamination, but luckily the Clean Air Act and EPA regulations are on track to reduce mercury emissions 80% from their 1990 levels by 2016...
...unless, of course, we elect Mike Rounds, who thinks trying to reduce the level of mercury in our walleye is a war on coal. More fish, please!
SDDENR is a wholly owned subsidiary of SDGOP: blaming flooding for mercury pollution is like saying snow causes slush.
Thanks Obama! lol
We can't have a war on coal! Not when we can have a war on fish and the people who eat them!
Noem is touting her resistance to clean water: what could possibly go wrong?
Would that Noem had an effective opponent. I had hopes, that evidently are not panning out.
I believe that all lakes in North Dakota have warnings about the mercury level in fish. This is because of all the coal fired power plants in the state that spew mercury into the atmosphere.
eat em or not, mercury in sd wetlands, lakes, and river fish sounds serious. is there info in sd re: burning coal drifting across sd from wyo that we can put responsibility back in the lap of the energy rich and exploitive cowboy states. make wyo ect. clean up the light areas of the "buffalo commons" map as the dark areas grow darker? now here is where a good AG could push some weight.
In addition to the mercury in our fish, our state still wants to put in the keystone XL. I saw this about the cut off road north of New Underwood that collapsed. Think how that would be if it took out an oil pipeline full of Canadian crap.
http://www.kotatv.com/story/26074723/major-north-south-connector-road-collapses