Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Updated - May 6, 2007

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's (TDEC) Division of Water Pollution Control issues advisories for the consumption of fish from certain Tennessee waters. The following information is subject to change and was copied from TDEC's site. Concerned individuals should visit TDEC's site for more information about these advisories, bacteriological advisories, and tips on how to reduce risks from contaminated fish.

Contact your local TWRA office or TDEC's Water Pollution Control office at (615) 532-0699 for specific information regarding aquatic contaminants or affected waters.

 

Waterway	County	Portion	Pollutant	Comments
Loosahatchie River	Shelby	Mile 0.0 - 20.9	Chlordane, other Organics, Mercury	Fish should not be eaten.
McKellar Lake	Shelby	Entirety	Chlordane, other Organics, Mercury	Fish should not be eaten.
Mississippi River	Shelby	MS stateline to just downstream of Meeman-Shelby State Park	Chlordane, other Organics,   Mercury	Fish should not be eaten, commercial fishing prohibited by TWRA.
Nonconnah Creek	Shelby	Mile 0.0 - 1.8	Chlordane, other Organics	Fish should not be eaten, advisory ends at Horn Lake Road Bridge.
Wolf River	Shelby	Mile 0.0 - 18.9	Chlordane, other Organics, Mercury	Fish should not be eaten.
Woods Reservoir	Franklin	Entirety	PCBs	Catfish should not be eaten.
Buffalo River	Humphreys,   Perry	Mouth upstream to Highway 438	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for smallmouth bass.*
Boone Reservoir	Sullivan, Washinton	Entirety	PCBs, Chlordane	Precautionary advisory for carp and catfish.*
Chattanooga Creek	Hamilton	Mouth to GA stateline	PCBs, Chlordane	Fish should not be eaten.
East Fork of Poplar Creek and Poplar Creek Embayment	Anderson, Roane	Mile 0.0 - 15.0	Mercury, PCBs	Fish should not be eaten, also avoid contact with water.
Emory River	Roane, Morgan	Highway 27 upstream to Camp Austin Road Bridge	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for all fish.*
Fort Loudoun      Reservoir	Loudon, Knox, Blount	Entirety	PCBs	Commercial fishing for catfish prohibited; catfish, largemouth bass over two pounds, or any largemouth bass from the Little River Embayment should not be eaten.
Hiwassee River	Meigs, McMinn, Bradley	Highway 58 upstream to railroad bridge upsteam of Highway 11	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
Holston River	Sullivan, Hawkins	Mouth of Poor Valley Creek Embaymant upstream to confluence of the North and South Forks of the Holston	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for all fish.*
Melton Hill Reservoir	Knox, Anderson	Entirety	PCBs	Catfish should not be eaten.
Nickajack Reservoir	Hamilton, Marion	Entirety	PCBs	Precautionary advisory for catfish.*
Norris Reservoir	Campbell, Anderson, Union, Claiborne, Granger	Clinch River portion (Powell River not included)	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
North Fork Holston River	Sullivan, Hawkins	Mile 0.0 - 6.2	Mercury	Fish should not be eaten. Advisory goes to TN/VA stateline.
South Holston Reservoir	Sullivan	Portion in TN	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass.*
Tellico Reservoir	Loudon, Monroe	Entirety	PCBs, Mercury	Catfish should not be eaten.
Watauga Reservoir	Carter, Johnson	Entirety	Mercury	Precautionary advisory for largemouth bass and channel catfish.*
Watts Bar Reservoir	Roane, Meigs, Rhea, Loudon	TN River portion	PCBs	Catfish, striped bass, and hybrid striped bass should not be eaten. Precautionary advisory for white bass, sauger, carp, smallmouth buffalo, and largemouth bass.*
Watts Bar Reservoir	Roane, Anderson	Clinch River Arm	PCBs	Striped bass should not be eaten, precautionary advisory for catfish and sauger.*

 

*Precautionary Advisory - Children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers should not eat the fish species named. All other persons should limit consumption of the named species to one meal per month.