Mercury Contamination of Seafood

Mercury contamination of seafood is a persistent public health threat that poses a significant risk to children and women of child-bearing age. While some mercury is naturally occurring in the environment, activities such as the burning of coal for power generation and industrial processes, such as battery manufacturing, have redistributed the substance and created mercury compounds that are toxic even at extremely low levels of exposure.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration warns pregnant women, children and women who might become pregnant to avoid eating swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel and to limit their intake of tuna because of the high methylmercury levels these species contain.

The longline fishing fleets that target swordfish and tuna are also catching and killing endangered sea turtles and many other marine species, thereby profoundly upsetting the ecological balance of the world's oceans.