The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) issued these fish consumption advisories for 2025.

The advisories identify types of fish or other aquatic species that should be eaten in limited quantities or, in some cases, avoided altogether because of contamination. Additional resources are also provided to help people make informed decisions about eating locally-caught fish.

DEFINITIONS

Bottom-feeding fish:  buffalo, carp, catfish, sturgeon and suckers

Shellfish: mussels, clams, and crayfish.

Serving size (skinless fish fillets before cooking):

• Adults and Children age 13 and older = 8 ounces
• Children age 6 to 12 = 4 ounces
• Children younger than 6 = 2 ounces

There are many health benefits associated with going outside and catching and consuming fish; however, all fish contain some amount of mercury. Consumption of mercury-rich fish can harm the development of fetuses, nursing babies, and growing children. As a result, anyone who routinely eats fish or serves fish to children, including store-bought fish, should carefully consider the type and amount of fish eaten. Therefore, mercury-sensitive individuals (women who are pregnant, nursing, or may become pregnant, and children 17 or younger) should follow the guidelines presented below for eating Kansas-caught fish. 

Fishing and Eating Guidelines

• Eat smaller portions – a fillet about the size of your palm.
• Eat fish species with less mercury (see Preferred Choice Fish below).
• If you don’t know what type or size of fish you’ve eaten, wait at least one week before eating fish again.
• When fishing, keep fish shorter than your forearm (fingertips to elbow) or less than 20 inches, as regulations allow. See Fishing Regulations for more information.

Preferred Choice Fish - limit to 1 or 2 servings per week*

blue, channel, and bullhead catfish; common carp; crappie; white bass; white perch; wiper; striped bass; walleye; sauger; saugeye; drum; and sunfish (bluegill, green, redear, etc.)

Second Choice Fish - limit to 1 or 2 servings per month* 

buffalo (black, bigmouth, smallmouth), flathead catfish, bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spotted)

*If you tend to keep fish larger than 20 inches, reduce Preferred Choice Fish consumption to not more than 1 serving per week and Second Choice Fish consumption to not more than 1 serving per month.

Restrict consumption of bottom-feeding fish to 2 servings per month from the following location(s) because of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs):

• Little Arkansas River from the Main Street Bridge immediately west of Valley Center to the confluence with the Arkansas River in Wichita (Sedgwick County). 

Restrict consumption of bottom-feeding fish to 1 serving per month from the following location(s) because of PCBs:

• K-96 Lake in Wichita (Sedgwick County)
• Cow Creek in Hutchinson and downstream to the confluence with the Arkansas River (Reno County)

Restrict consumption of bottom-feeding fish to 1 serving per month from the following location(s) because of arsenic:

• Mill Creek from Madison Road east of Morrowville to confluence with Little Blue River (Washington County)

Do not eat the specified fish or aquatic life from the following location(s):

• Antioch Park Lake South in Antioch Park, Overland Park (Johnson County): all fish due to pesticides: dieldrin, heptachlor epoxide, chlordane and dichlorophenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs).
• Arkalon Park Lakes in Liberal (Seward County): any aquatic life because the lakes are sustained solely by treated municipal wastewater.
• Arkansas River from the Lincoln Street dam in Wichita downstream to the confluence with Cowskin Creek near Belle Plaine (Sedgwick and Sumner counties): bottom-feeding fish due to PCBs.
• Mill Creek from Washington (below 18th Road) downstream to confluence of Little Blue River (Washington County): shellfish due to arsenic.
• Shoal Creek from the Missouri/Kansas border to Empire Lake (Cherokee County): shellfish due to lead and cadmium.
• Spring River from the confluence of Center Creek to the Kansas/Oklahoma border (Cherokee County): shellfish due to lead and cadmium.
• Kansas River from Lawrence (below Bowersock Dam) downstream to Eudora at the confluence of the Wakarusa River (Douglas and Leavenworth counties): bottom-feeding fish due to PCBs.

To date, measured algal toxin levels in fish samples collected from waters affected by harmful algal blooms suggest the fish are safe to eat. 

However, please take the following precautions:

• Avoid skin contact with water.
• Wear gloves when handling wet fish and equipment.
• Rinse fish with clean water. 
• Remove skin from fillets and rinse with clean water prior to cooking or freezing.
• Eat only skinless fillets.
• Do not eat shellfish.

View current Harmful Algal Blooms Advisories here.

• Keep smaller fish to eat (regulations permitting) and let the big ones go.
• Avoid eating fish parts other than fillets.
• Trim fat from fillets and/or use cooking methods that allows fat to drip away.
• Avoid subsistence fishing (relying on wild-caught fish for daily nutritional needs) in rivers within or immediately downstream of large urban/industrial areas. 
• Do not eat fish or aquatic life from wastewater outfalls, waste treatment lagoons or stormwater retention ponds.

• Fishing in Kansas | Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
• Fish Tissue Contaminant Monitoring Program | Kansas Department of Health and Environment
• Eating fish twice a week reduces heart, stroke risk | American Heart Association
• EPA Guidance for Developing Fish Advisories | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• EPA-FDA Advice about Eating Fish and Shellfish | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency