Minority anglers opt to ignore state warnings

By LOIS BAKER
News Services Editor

The messenger matters as much as the message when it comes to conveying important information.

That was the general finding of a study by UB epidemiologists designed to determine why minority groups are less inclined than non-minorities to comply with official advisories on how many and how often fish caught in chemically contaminated waters can be eaten safely.

Their results, presented last week at the annual meeting of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), showed that African-Americans anglers follow advice from friends and family, rather the printed state advisories, when choosing safe fishing waters.

UB hosted hosting the conference, which this year was held in Buffalo.

The study also showed that these anglers believe they can tell by sight and smell if water is contaminated. They actively avoided fishing in polluted waters, but weren't aware that pollution from such chemicals as PCBs and dioxins is invisible.

"African-American anglers have a comprehensive understanding of the natural environment," said Gregory Beehler, a medical anthropologist and research associate in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. "We need to work with what they know already, and to incorporate some of what we know as scientists into that knowledge.

"They really prefer to hear about this from other anglers, so I advocate that we train known and respected anglers from the community to act as well-informed advocates for the official fish-consumption advisories."

Beehler gathered his information through four focus groups coordinated by a local African-American health organization and conducted by trained African-American moderators. A total of 39 participants were recruited into one of four groups: men and women ages 40 and over; men 40 and over; men under 40 and women under 40.

In addition to the principal findings, the data defined a number of culture-based attitudes regarding sport fishing:

- These African-American anglers fish for fun and relaxation, not specifically to put food on the table.

- Exposure to contamination from chemicals in the environment doesn't weigh heavily on their minds

- Knowledge on how and where to fish is passed down through generations, is highly prized, and is concerned mainly with improving skills and "knowing the water," not knowing about chemical pollution

- Local water and fish were considered polluted but not necessarily hazardous

- Efforts to avoid eating polluted fish included avoiding scavengers, such as sheephead and carp; discarding fish that looked unhealthy, and eating only smaller fish.

Bridget M. McGuinness, UB project coordinator of the New York State Angler Cohort Study, and John E. Vena, professor of social and preventive medicine, also assisted in the research. The study was supported by the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, which is funding the Angler Cohort Study.