JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A new report released Thursday indicated that mercury is contaminating fish in virtually every Florida waterway.

The report, "Fishing For Trouble: How Toxic Mercury Contaminates Fish in U.S. Waterways," was commissioned by the Florida Public Interest Research Group and conducted with Jacksonville University Biology Professor Dr. Quinton White. It finds that warnings against eating fish due to mercury contamination cover nearly all of Florida's rivers, lakes and coastline.

Florida ranked 2nd among states across the nation for the most lake acreage with posted mercury pollution warnings in 2003, according to, a according to PIRG. The state also ranked 1st nationally for having the most miles of coastline under mercury advisory, and 6th for miles of rivers covered by fish consumption advisories due to mercury pollution.

"Unfortunately, a little mercury goes a long way towards polluting our fish. Just one gram of mercury, the same amount found in a fever thermometer, deposited annually into a 20-acre lake is enough to contaminate the fish," noted Liz Hartman of Florida PIRG. "Florida power plants, the largest industrial source of mercury pollution, emitted over 2,400 pounds of mercury, or more than 1 million grams, in 2002."

The warnings cover over 2 million acres of Florida lakes, more than 50,000 miles of rivers and more than 5,000 miles of coastline. Last month, the Florida Department of Health issued updated advisories that significantly expanded the types of fish covered, including many popular species such as grouper, pompano and red snapper. The warnings advise people, especially women of childbearing age and young children, to limit or avoid consumption of contaminated fish.

"Mercury is a dangerous toxic metal, especially for children. Exposure to mercury can cause attention and language deficits, impaired memory, and impaired visual and motor function in children," said Hartman.

Scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that one in six women of childbearing age has levels of mercury in her blood high enough to put more than 15,000 of the babies born each year in Florida at risk of health problems due to mercury exposure.

"We looked at this problem almost 20 years ago and found a subpopulation right here in Jacksonville that eats fish nearly every day," said White. "Because most fish consumption advisories are based on less frequent consumption among the general population, some subpopulations who eat fish 5-7 times a week may not be properly informed of the dangers of mercury consumption."

Hartman said the mercury pollution is threatening Florida's $4 billion recreational fishing industry, the nation's largest.

Officials said there are immediate measures that could be taken to reduce the problem.

"A multi-agency study of mercury levels in the Everglades released last November found that when incinerators in South Florida reduced their mercury emissions by more than 90 percent within a few short years, there was a dramatic drop in the mercury levels found in Everglades fish and wading birds. This is strong evidence that reducing local sources of mercury pollution can have a big impact on mercury levels in local water bodies," Hartman continued.

Florida PIRG's report comes as the Bush administration prepares to finalize a highly controversial proposal that would let power plants emit six to seven times more mercury over the next decade than the Clean Air Act allows and delay meaningful reductions until 2018, at the earliest. Moreover, the plan allows facilities to buy mercury pollution credits from facilities located far away instead of reducing their own emissions, thus increasing the risk of creating and exacerbating toxic hotspots.

Locally, the St Johns Riverkeeper said the problem has gone on too long and something needs to be done.