Joshua Lee likes to spend his days at Tenney Park fishing off a dock in Lake Mendota for a meal of blue gill, perch, large-mouth bass or the elusive walleye.

Though he's been aware of warnings about toxins in fish since the 1960s, Lee isn't worried about the amount of mercury, PCBs or other contaminants in the local fish he eats. "I don't catch a whole lot," said Lee, 52, of Madison.

But a local environmental group is concerned some shoreline anglers and their families who regularly eat the fish they catch in local lakes and rivers may be exceeding what are considered safe levels of the toxins that build up in the tissues of fish.

The Madison Environmental Justice Organization is calling for permanent signs at 25 popular Dane County fishing spots to warn anglers of possible health risks from eating too much of the fish they catch.

"We do think it's a public health imperative," said Jim Powell, community organizer for MEJO. "If they eat a lot of fish, they really should know the risks."

Many of those who eat locally caught fish are poor, minority and non-English speaking families who often fish to help feed their families, Powell said.

John Hausbeck, environmental health services supervisor for the Madison-Dane County Health Department, has proposed a series of recommendations to Dane County supervisors, including a pilot program that would post fish advisory signs at two or three locations to see if they are effective.

The signs would include the types of fish commonly caught by local anglers, including white bass, catfish, buffalo, carp and bullhead, along with a phone number anglers can call to get additional information in English, Spanish or Hmong.

But Powell maintains signs are needed at all 25 locations identified in a recent MEJO report.

A MEJO survey of 129 people found the amount of locally caught fish eaten by many families exceeds state advisories, which specifically warn of contamination by mercury and PCBs.

Exposure to PCBs and mercury can result in lower IQs and cause many other negative health effects, Powell said. Women of childbearing age, pregnant women and children are most at risk for developmental, neurological and long-term health problems.

While state fish consumption guidelines recommend most people limit meals of certain fish to once a week or once a month, MEJ0's survey found families ate an average of three meals a week of fish caught from Dane County shorelines. Some surveyed ate locally caught fish every day.

While small panfish contain lower levels of toxin than larger fish, people who eat a lot of them may be exceeding recommended levels, Powell said.

Larger fish containing higher levels of toxins also are frequently caught and eaten by shoreline anglers, he said.

While the state has brochures containing its fish consumption advisories, Powell said, "None of the people we interviewed has even seen one."

"The real challenge is getting information to people," he said.

UW-Madison student Patris Lor, 20, recently took his 6-year-old nephew, Andy Lor, fishing for the first time along the Yahara River at Tenney Park, where the shore is frequently lined with anglers. Like many others who fish solely for recreation, the Lors don't keep the fish they catch. But Patris Lor said he believes advisory signs could be helpful in educating those who do eat the fish they catch about possible health risks.

"Probably the average person wouldn't know about it," Lor said.

Powell said his group also sees a need for more testing of Dane County fish, specifically the species most frequently eaten by shoreline anglers, to get a better assessment of the types and amounts of toxins present.

DNR toxicologist Candy Schrank said she believes the approximately 600 fish tested annually statewide provides a good assessment of what and where the concerns are.

But Schrank agrees there is a need to better educate shoreline anglers about how much fish is considered safe to eat.

To many shoreline anglers and their families, warnings about eating fish are counter-intuitive for several reasons — it's fresh food, it's free, and they have always eaten it, Powell said.

His group does not want warnings about fish consumption to keep people from fishing or from eating fish in moderation, he said.

"Shoreline fishing is an age-old pastime," Powell said, adding that for many people, it is a part of their culture and a source of pleasure.