In 2012, coastwide sampling across California found the highest mercury levels in the state in a leopard shark from Humboldt Bay. In July 2016, Humboldt Baykeeper received a grant from the California Environmental Protection Agency to analyze fish caught by local subsistence, tribal, and sport fishermen to determine the magnitude of local mercury contamination in Humboldt Bay fish and shellfish. In 2019, we recieved a second round of funding to study fish caught in nearshore waters.


Humboldt Baykeeper is about to begin a California EPA-funded study of mercury in certain Humboldt fishes. Fred Evenson of the Ecological Rights Foundation and Econews host / director of Humboldt Baykeeper Jen Kalt discussed mercury in fish in Monterey Bay's Elkhorn Slough, where a fish advisory was recently issued to protect human health.

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