A recent article in The Augusta Press about the temporary closure of the Mayor’s Pond near Phinizy Swamp contained a footnote that the pond was one of the few public ponds where it is safe to fish, leading many to ask if it is safe to eat wild-0caught fish.
The short answer is yes, but it depends on where the hook meets the water, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. There are certainly places where you should never eat what you catch and other places you should only be wary of certain species.
Neighborhood and golf course ponds should never be fished. In fact, many neighborhood ponds have “no fishing” signs posted. Those signs are not posted to spoil anyone’s fun.
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Meanwhile, city-owned detention ponds are fenced in for a reason as well.
Golf courses are routinely fertilized with non-organic fertilizer and many of the brands contain lead. According to Savannah Riverkeeper, Tonya Bonitatibus, heavy metals such as lead do not break down. Most golf courses are now treated with much safer chemicals, but that does not cancel out the many years that products containing lead were used.
In neighborhoods and golf courses, the fertilizers and chemicals in fire ant killer eventually make it into the groundwater and heavy rains also wash the chemicals into the ponds.
Waterways such as Rae’s Creek are iffy for fishing as they collect runoff from roads and storm sewers. These waterways are routinely tested, but the results typically fluctuate, and Bonitatibus says that contaminate levels in Rae’s Creek are generally low.
Augusta Utilities Director Wes Byne agrees and says that Augusta University once did a study of the water downstream of the Augusta National and found the contaminate level well within tolerable levers.
“It was very interesting to see the early season application, but then it tapered off substantially. It looked like a good application of turf management,” Byne said
The same cannot be said for the terminus of Rae’s Creek.
“Lake Olmstead is not a lake that I would eat anything from,” Bonitatibus said.
Lake Olmstead acts as a giant bowl that collects and traps everything that comes from upstream. It is too early to test the water after the recent dredging, Bonitatibus says, but the lake has been plagued with red algae for years, making the water unsafe for pets to drink.
The rule of thumb is, according to Bonitatibus, that if a dog shouldn’t drink from a lake, then the fish that live there should not be consumed.
The Augusta Canal is a popular and safe place to fish as it only gets a small amount of water from Lake Olmstead, relatively speaking, and the 13-knot current swiftly disperses contaminants.
Bream, bass and crappie are all safe to eat; however, because catfish are bottom feeders, it might be best to avoid that species.
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According to the Georgia DNR, fish caught at Clarks Hill and in the upper Savannah are completely safe to eat, and the DNR does not recommend limits on any fish caught in those bodies of water.
However, the river downstream from the New Savannah Lock and Dam is a different matter. This is the area where, for decades, factories such as Olin and others operated and spewed contaminants into the environment.
After 47 years of activity, Olin reconfigured its Augusta plant in 2016 to process chlorine without the use of mercury. The buildings that used the mercury cell technology were demolished, and the area was thoroughly cleaned.
The problem with mercury is that it, like lead, does not break down, and unlike lead, mercury cannot be expelled from an organism’s body, according to the scientists at the Savannah River Ecology Lab.
The Georgia DNR recommends only eating striped bass from the lower Savannah River once a month. Again, bottom feeders such as catfish from the lower Savannah should probably be off the menu.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
