A second option, the above-mentioned fish advisories, can be issued to the angling public that explain which species and sizes of fish to avoid. In addition, sporadic efforts are made to provide information about risk reduction strategies in press releases sent to mass media, brochures and information sheets made available to the public, and in state advisories disseminated to anglers. Advisories disseminated by states bordering the Great Lakes offer the most detailed risk information and are likely of greatest value to women who themselves are licensed anglers. This means that the bulk of women who eat sport-caught fish do not have ready access to information about fish contamination. And this larger group of women may not always be getting the risk message.
Most anglers are aware of fish advisories.
Women anglers, younger anglers, minority anglers and lower income anglers tend to be even less aware of health advisories. However, they fared poorly when asked to identify contaminants in those fish that might pose a health risk. In addition, the study concluded that mass media and anglers in their household were the two primary channel sources for information about the risks of eating sport-caught fish. Mass media channels increased both their level of worry and estimate of the likelihood of getting sick, while interestingly, talking with anglers actually decreased their worry and likelihood estimates. This suggests that the subject of health risks posed by eating sport-caught fish is quite possibly a rarely discussed topic of conversation in these households.