New York City Region Fish Advisories
- New York City Area: Health Advice on Eating Fish You Catch is available in Portable Document Format (PDF, 2.3MB, 8pg.). Also available in Spanish (PDF, 2.8MB, 8pg.) and Chinese (PDF, 2.6MB, 8pg.).
- Health Advisories on Eating Sportfish: New York City Area, Rockland and Westchester and Long Island, including Marine Waters is available in Portable Document Format (PDF, 260KB, 8pg.). Also available in Spanish (PDF, 346KB, 8pg.).
- Use our order form (PDF, 531KB, 3pg.) to request copies of this and other free fish advisory publications.
Upper Bay, Rivers and Kills
NYS DOH has specific advice for the Hudson River, the Harlem and East Rivers, the Upper Bay of New York Harbor, Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull, and Raritan Bay (see table below). The contaminants of concern for these waters are PCBs and dioxin in fish, and cadmium, dioxin and PCBs in crab and lobster.
Women under 50 years and children under 15 years
- Don't eat fish or crabs from the waters1 listed below.
Men over 15 years and women over 50 years
Follow advice for eating fish and crabs from waters1 listed below.
| Location | Don't Eat | Eat up to One Meal a Month |
Eat up to Four Meals a Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson River (south of the Tappan Zee Bridge), Harlem River and East River (to the Throgs Neck Bridge) | Channel catfish, Gizzard shad, White catfish Crab tomalley (hepatopancreas) and crab cooking liquid2 |
Atlantic needlefish, Bluefish, Rainbow smelt, Striped bass, White perch, Carp, Goldfish | All other fish species Blue crab meat2 (six crabs per week) |
| Upper Bay of New York Harbor (north of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge), Newark Bay, Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull, and Raritan Bay (west of Wolfe's Pond Park | American eel, Gizzard shad, White perch Striped bass (from Newark Bay, Arthur Kill and Kill Van Kull) Crab and lobster tomalley (hepatopancreas) and cooking liquid2 |
Atlantic needlefish, Bluefish, Rainbow smelt Striped bass (from the Upper Bay of New York Harbor and western Raritan Bay) |
All other fish species, Blue crab meat* (six crabs per meal) |
Lower Bay, Sound and Ocean
NYS DOH has specific advisories for the Lower Bay of New York Harbor, Raritan Bay, Jamaica Bay, the Long Island Sound, the Long Island South Shore, and the Atlantic Ocean (see table below). The contaminants of concern for these waters are PCBs in fish, and cadmium, dioxin and PCBs in crab and lobster.
This advice applies to striped bass, bluefish, weakfish and American eels and is the only advice that applies to these waters. Ocean fish, although tested less often, are generally less contaminated than freshwater fish. However, striped bass, bluefish, weakfish and eels have specific habits or characteristics that make them more likely to have contaminants than other marine species.
Women under 50 years and children under 15 years
- Follow the advice for eating fish from waters listed in the table below.
| Location | Don't Eat | Eat up to One Meal a Month |
Eat up to Four Meals a Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Bay of New York Harbor (south of Verrazano Narrows Bridge), Raritan Bay (east of Wolfe's Pond Park), Jamaica Bay, Long Island Sound and Long Island South Shore/Atlantic Ocean | Weakfish over 25" Crab and lobster tomalley (hepatopancreas) and cooking liquid2 |
American eel, Striped bass, Bluefish over 20", Weakfish under 20" | Bluefish up to 20" |
Men over 15 years and women over 50 years
Follow advice for eating fish and crabs from waters1 listed below.
| Location | Don't Eat | Eat up to One Meal a Month | Eat up to Four Meals a Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Bay of New York Harbor (south of Verrazano Narrows Bridge), Raritan Bay (east of Wolfe's Pond Park), Jamaica Bay, Long Island Sound and Long Island South Shore/Atlantic Ocean | Crab and lobster tomalley (hepatopancreas) and cooking liquid2 | Weakfish over 25" | American eel, Bluefish, Striped bass, weakfish under 25" |
- 1The specific health advisories for the waters listed above also apply to tributaries (for example, Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek) and connected waters, if there are no dams, falls or barriers to stop the fish from moving upstream.
- 2NYS DOH strongly recommends to not eat the soft "green stuff" (mustard, tomalley, liver or hepatopancreas) found in the body section of crabs and lobsters from any waters because cadmium, PCBs and other contaminants concentrate there. As contaminants are transferred to cooking liquid, you should also discard crab or lobster cooking liquid.
Note: NYS DEC regulations prohibit the harvest/possession of American eel for food from the Hudson, East and Harlem Rivers, and the taking of American shad from the Hudson, East and Harlem Rivers, and New York State marine waters. See the NYS DEC regulations for more restrictions.
Map of New York City Harbor Area
