Fish With Tumor Concerns Water Regulators

Pennsylvania regulators confirmed this month that a fish caught last year in the Susquehanna River had cancer, making it the first smallmouth bass on record to have this illness.

The rare nature of the findings has resurrected a heated policy debate about nutrient policy and how to regulate water pollution in this stretch of the river. Though it is unknown what made this fish so sick, the river is challenged by sewage pollution, drug residues flushed through the waste system, and nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from fertilizers. "Intersex fish — male fish that carry eggs — have also been found in the river," NPR reported.

After two independent lab tests confirmed the cancerous tumor, the state now has evidence that Susquehanna fish live in compromised conditions, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC)Executive Director John Arway said in a statement.

“As we continue to study the river, we find young-of-year and now adult bass with sores, lesions and more recently a cancerous tumor, all of which continue to negatively impact population levels and recreational fishing,” Arway said. “The weight-of-evidence continues to build a case that we need to take some action on behalf of the fish.”

But other state regulators disagree with Arway. Arway's agency and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are at odds over "whether a 100-mile stretch of river’s main stem should be officially labeled as 'impaired,'" NPR reported.

When the commission noticed lesions on local bass a decade ago, it began studying illness-related deaths in these populations. For years, the commission has been lobbying federal and state regulators to mark the river as "impaired." But the state DEP has said that it makes recommendations "based on water quality and not species health," The Washington Post reported.

EPA has backed the stance that there is not enough data available yet. "Although we share the continuing concerns about the health of the smallmouth bass population, we do not have sufficient data at this time to scientifically support listing the main stem of the Susquehanna as impaired," an EPA spokesperson said in a statement, per NPR.

"We support the continuing studies being conducted by the Commonwealth to determine both the cause of the declining health of the smallmouth bass population, and to make a determination as to whether or not the main stem of the Susquehanna is impaired," the spokesperson continued.

Nevertheless, Arway continues to lobby regulators on the issue. “The impairment designation is critical because it starts a timeline for developing a restoration plan,” Arway said. “We’ve known the river has been sick since 2005, when we first started seeing lesions on the smallmouth. Now we have more evidence to further the case for impairment.”

“If we do not act to address the water quality issues in the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania risks losing what is left of what was once considered a world-class smallmouth bass fishery,” he said. “DEP is expected to release its 2016 list of impaired waters in late fall. We are urging them once again to follow the science and add the Susquehanna River to the list.”

State health regulators emphasized that people are not at risk."There is no evidence that carcinomas in fish present any health hazard to humans," Karen Murphy, acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said per CBS News. "However, people should avoid consuming fish that have visible signs of sores and lesions."