A new report has identified flathead catfish, three types of bass and buffaloes as fish to consume sparingly if caught out of Kansas Waters. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks issued the annual “Fish Consumption Advisories” report for 2022. The report states that all fish caught in Kansas contain some amount of mercury, which can be particularly harmful to fetuses and children under the age of 17. The two agencies provided consumption guidelines for those who are “mercury-sensitive,” which pertains children and pregnant mothers, those trying to get pregnant, and nursing mothers. Officials say servings of buffaloes (black, bigmouth, smallmouth), flathead catfish, and largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass all should limited to one or two per month due to high levels of mercury. Better options include blue catfish, channel catfish, common carp, crappie, white bass, white perch, wiper, striped bass, walleye, sauger, saugeye, bullhead catfish, drum, and sunfish (bluegill, green redear, etc), which may be safely consumed at a rate of one or two servings per week. KDWP and KDHE say if the fish is larger than 20 inches to reduce serving to once per month or week, respectively
