Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish


 

Table 1. Fish and Shellfish With Highest Levels of Mercury
SPECIES MERCURY CONCENTRATION (PPM) NO. OF SAMPLES SOURCE OF DATA
MEAN MEDIAN MIN MAX
MACKEREL KING 0.73 NA 0.23 1.67 213 GULF OF MEXICO REPORT 2000
SHARK 0.99 0.83 ND 4.54 351 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
SWORDFISH 0.97 0.86 0.10 3.22 605 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
TILEFISH (Gulf of Mexico) 1.45 NA 0.65 3.73 60 NMFS REPORT 1978



 

Table 2. Fish and Shellfish With Lower Levels of Mercury
SPECIES MERCURY CONCENTRATION (PPM) NO. OF SAMPLES SOURCE OF DATA
MEAN MEDIAN MIN MAX
ANCHOVIES 0.04 NA ND 0.34 40 NMFS REPORT 1978
BUTTERFISH 0.06 NA ND 0.36 89 NMFS REPORT 1978
CATFISH 0.05 ND ND 0.31 22 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
CLAMS ND ND ND ND 6 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
COD 0.11 0.10 ND 0.42 20 FDA SURVEY 1990-03
CRAB 3 0.06 ND ND 0.61 59 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
CRAWFISH 0.03 0.03 ND 0.05 21 FDA SURVEY 2002-03
CROAKER (Atlantic) 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.10 21 FDA SURVEY 1990-03
FLATFISH 2 0.05 0.04 ND 0.18 22 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
HADDOCK 0.03 0.04 ND 0.04 4 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
HAKE 0.01 ND ND 0.05 9 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
HERRING 0.04 NA ND 0.14 38 NMFS REPORT 1978
JACKSMELT 0.11 0.06 0.04 0.50 16 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
LOBSTER (Spiny) 0.09 0.14 ND 0.27 9 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
MACKEREL ATLANTIC
(N. Atlantic)		 0.05 NA 0.02 0.16 80 NMFS REPORT 1978
MACKEREL CHUB (Pacific) 0.09 NA 0.03 0.19 30 NMFS REPORT 1978
MULLET 0.05 NA ND 0.13 191 NMFS REPORT 1978
OYSTERS ND ND ND 0.25 34 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
PERCH OCEAN ND ND ND 0.03 6 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
PICKEREL ND ND ND 0.06 4 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
POLLOCK 0.06 ND ND 0.78 37 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
SALMON (Canned) ND ND ND ND 23 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
SALMON (Fresh/Frozen) 0.01 ND ND 0.19 34 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
SARDINE 0.02 0.01 ND 0.04 22 FDA SURVEY 2002-03
SCALLOPS 0.05 NA ND 0.22 66 NMFS REPORT 1978
SHAD (American) 0.07 NA ND 0.22 59 NMFS REPORT 1978
SHRIMP ND ND ND 0.05 24 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
SQUID 0.07 NA ND 0.40 200 NMFS REPORT 1978
TILAPIA 0.01 ND ND 0.07 9 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
TROUT (Freshwater) 0.03 0.02 ND 0.13 17 FDA SURVEY 2002-03
TUNA (Canned, Light) 0.12 0.08 ND 0.85 131 FDA SURVEY 1990-03
WHITEFISH 0.07 0.05 ND 0.31 25 FDA SURVEY 1990-03
WHITING ND ND ND ND 2 FDA SURVEY 1990-02



 

Table 3. Mercury Levels of Other Fish and Shellfish
SPECIES MERCURY CONCENTRATION (PPM) NO. OF SAMPLES SOURCE OF DATA
MEAN MEDIAN MIN MAX
BASS (Saltwater)1 0.27 0.15 0.06 0.96 35 FDA SURVEY 1990-03 
BLUEFISH 0.31 0.30 0.14 0.63 22 FDA SURVEY 2002-03
BUFFALOFISH 0.19 0.14 0.05 0.43 4 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
CARP 0.14 0.14 0.01 0.27 2 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
CROAKER WHITE (Pacific) 0.29 0.28 0.18 0.41 15 FDA SURVEY 1990-03
GROUPER 0.55 0.44 0.07 1.21 22 FDA SURVEY 2002-03
HALIBUT 0.26 0.20 ND 1.52 32 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
LOBSTER (Northern/American) 0.31 NA 0.05 1.31 88 NMFS REPORT 1978
MACKEREL SPANISH
(Gulf of Mexico)		 0.45 NA 0.07 1.56 66 NMFS REPORT 1978
MACKEREL SPANISH
(S. Atlantic)		 0.18 NA 0.05 0.73 43 NMFS REPORT 1978
MARLIN 0.49 0.39 0.10 0.92 16 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
MONKFISH 0.18 NA 0.02 1.02 81 NMFS REPORT 1978
ORANGE ROUGHY 0.54 0.56 0.30 0.80 26 FDA SURVEY 1990-03
PERCH (Freshwater) 0.14 0.15 ND 0.31 5 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
SABLEFISH 0.22 NA ND 0.70 102 NMFS REPORT 1978
SCORPIONFISH 0.29 NA 0.02 1.35 78 NMFS REPORT 1978
SHEEPSHEAD 0.13 NA 0.02 0.63 59 NMFS REPORT 1978
SKATE 0.14 NA 0.04 0.36 56 NMFS REPORT 1978
SNAPPER 0.19 0.12 ND 1.37 25 FDA SURVEY 2002-03
TILEFISH (Atlantic) 0.15 0.10 0.06 0.53 17 FDA SURVEY 2002-03
TUNA (Canned, Albacore) 0.35 0.34 ND 0.85 179 FDA SURVEY 1990-03
TUNA (Fresh/Frozen) 0.38 0.30 ND 1.30 131 FDA SURVEY 1990-02
WEAKFISH (Sea Trout) 0.25 0.16 ND 0.74 27 FDA SURVEY 1990-03

Source of data: FDA Surveys 1990-2003
"National Marine Fisheries Service Survey of Trace Elements in the Fishery Resource" Report 1978
"The Occurrence of Mercury in the Fishery Resources of the Gulf of Mexico" Report 2000

Market share calculation based on 2001 National Marine Fisheries Service published landings data
* Mercury was measured as Total Mercury and/or Methylmercury

ND - mercury concentration below the Level of Detection (LOD=0.01ppm)
NA - data not available
1 Includes: Sea bass/ Striped Bass/ Rockfish
2 Includes: Flounder, Plaice, Sole
3 Includes: Blue, King, Snow

 

 

Courtesy: FDA/Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition