598 



Fishery Bulletin 94(4), 1996 



method on seafood consumption rates 

 in a diverse local angling population in 

 Santa Monica Bay, California. 



Santa Monica Bay is an embayment 

 of the southern California coast that 

 borders the Los Angeles metropolitan 

 area, one of the largest urban areas in 

 the United States. The presence of 

 chemically contaminated seafood organ- 

 isms in Santa Monica Bay has raised 

 public concern about the health risk of 

 eating seafood species caught in the Bay 

 (Pollock et al. 2 ; SCCWRP et al. 3 , 

 SCCWRP 4 ). In particular, white 

 croaker, Genyonemus lineatus, a species 

 commonly caught by local recreational 

 anglers, is contaminated in some areas 

 of the Bay (Pollock et al. 2 ; SCCWRP et 

 al. 3 ). Warnings advising restricted con- 

 sumption of white croaker have been 

 posted since 1985 (Stull et al., 1987; 

 Pollock et al. 2 ) 



The only study of angler seafood consumption hab- 

 its for the Los Angeles metropolitan area (including 

 Santa Monica Bay) was conducted in 1980 (Puffer et 

 al., 1981, 1982). The study surveyed more than 1,000 

 anglers but interviewed only those that spoke En- 

 glish. The median consumption rate of Los Angeles 

 anglers in that study was higher (37 g/day) than the 

 national median (which was 18.7 g/day) (Puffer et 

 al., 1981). 



Considering contaminant levels in fish collected 

 in 1987, the State recommended restricted consump- 

 tion of some species at certain fishing sites in south- 

 ern California (including Santa Monica Bay) (Pol- 

 lock et al. 2 ). In anticipation of a new risk analysis 



2 Pollock, G. A., I. J. Uhaa, A. M. Fan, J. A. Wisniewski, and I. 

 Witherell. 1991. A study of chemical contamination of ma- 

 rine fish from Southern California. II: Comprehensive 

 study. Calif. Environ. Protection Agency, Office Environ. 

 Health Hazard Assess., Sacramento, CA, 393 p. (161 p. + ap- 

 pend.) 



3 SCCWRP (Southern California Coastal Water Research Project), 

 MBC Applied Environmental Sciences, and University of Cali- 

 fornia, Santa Cruz, Trace Organics Facility. 1992. Santa 

 Monica Bay seafood contamination study. Report prepared for 

 Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, Monterey Park, 

 CA. Southern Calif. Coastal Water Res. Project, Long Beach. 

 CA, 179 p. 



4 SCCWRP (Southern California Coastal Water Research 

 Project). 1994. Contamination of recreational seafood organ- 

 isms off Southern California. In J. N. Cross, C. Francisco, and 

 D. Hallock (eds.), Southern California coastal water research 

 project annual report 1992-1993, p. 100-110. Southern Calif. 

 Coast. Water Res. Project, Westminster, CA. 



5 Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, Monterey Park, CA, is 

 funding this risk-analysis study. 



Figure 1 



Recreational angler fishing sites sampled in the Santa Monica Bay Seafood Con- 

 sumption Study, September 1991 to August 1992. 



for the area, 5 a study of seafood consumption habits 

 of Santa Monica Bay recreational anglers was con- 

 ducted in the early 1990's. 6 The objectives of this 

 study were to describe the demographic and con- 

 sumption characteristics of Santa Monica Bay an- 

 glers, to identify groups with high consumption rates, 

 and to determine the most abundantly caught and 

 consumed species in the early 1990's. 



Materials and methods 



Field survey 



The study area consisted of Santa Monica Bay and 

 adjacent areas, extending from Point Dume to 

 Cabrillo Pier (Fig. 1). It included waters inshore of 

 the 500-m isobath from Point Dume to Cabrillo Pier. 

 We conducted 113 field survey trips at 29 sites on 99 

 days from 3 September 1991 to 30 August 1992. In- 

 terviewers surveyed anglers at piers and jetties (11 

 sites), party boats (5 sites), private boats (3 sites), 

 and beach and intertidal zones (11 sites) (Fig. 1). 



Previous studies indicated that more anglers fish 

 during the summer than during the winter (Stull et 

 al., 1987; NFSP, 1992). Thus, we separated the sam- 

 pling period into summer (September 1991 and June 

 through August 1992) and nonsummer (October 1991 

 through May 1992) periods. We conducted survey 



6 SCCWRP and MBC (1994) (Footnote 9 in the text) provides a 

 detailed account of sampling protocols, analytical methods, and 

 results of this study. 



