Reducing risks to the Anishinaabe from methylmercury: A GIS-based fish consumption advisory program for walleye

Since 1989, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) has collected data on mercury concentrations in walleye from lakes in the 1837 and 1842 treaty-ceded lands of northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. Beginning in 1996, GLIFWC used these data to produce color-coded, GIS-based consumption advisory maps providing lake-specific information on the amount of methylmercury in walleye. GLIFWC received an EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant in 2003 to enhance and evaluate its efforts to reduce risks associated with subsistence based consumption of methylmercury contaminated walleye. As part of this grant, GLIFWC's maps were revised to ensure that they were culturally-sensitive and that they adequately protected the health of tribal members. Tribal leaders, health care providers, fish harvesters, children, and elders were trained in the use of the maps. Tribal health care providers were asked to train mothers with young children and women of childbearing age through tribal health programs. The efficacy of these interventions was evaluated through a series of targeted surveys designed to document changes in knowledge and behavior after implementation of the program. Results of these surveys will also be presented.