Fish advisory for Hodges Reservoir offers safe eating advice for 4 species

Source: Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment 

October 21, 2025 (Sacramento) - Today, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a new fish consumption advisory for Hodges Reservoir, located approximately four miles south of Escondido, in San Diego County. The advisory provides safe-eating advice for black bass species, Channel Catfish, Common Carp and Threadfin Shad.  

OEHHA’s Good Catch California program routinely develops fish advisories so Californians can make healthy choices about the fish they catch in waterbodies across the state.

“If you eat fish from Hodges Reservoir, check our new fish advice. It can help you decide which fish to eat and how much,” said fish advisory program manager Dr. Wesley Smith. “We issued guidance for four species to help you choose which fish to eat safely.”

OEHHA developed these recommendations based on the levels of mercury found in fish caught in the lake. Historic mining and coal burning released mercury into the environment, where it can accumulate in fish. Because mercury affects brain development, particularly in developing children and fetuses, OEHHA provides advice tailored to two groups based on sex and age.

For Hodges Reservoir, OEHHA provides the following safe-eating advice:

Women (18 – 49 years) and children (1 – 17 years)

• May eat the following on a weekly basis:
  
  • Seven total servings of Channel Catfish, or
  • Four total servings of Threadfin Shad, or
  • One total serving of Common Carp or black bass species.

Women (50 years and older) and men (18 years and older.

• May eat the following on a weekly basis:
  
  • Seven total servings of Channel Catfish or Threadfin Shad, or
  • Three total servings of Common Carp, or
  • Two total servings of black bass species.

One serving for adults is an eight-ounce fish fillet, measured before cooking, which is roughly the size and thickness of your hand. For small fish species, several individual fish may make up a single eight-ounce serving. Children should eat servings of less than eight ounces. Eating fish in amounts slightly greater than the advisory’s recommendations is not likely to cause health problems if it is done only occasionally, such as eating fish caught during an annual vacation.

A poster with safe-eating advice for Hodges Reservoir is available on OEHHA’s website in both English and Spanish. For fish species found in Hodges Reservoir that are not included in this advisory, OEHHA recommends following its statewide advisory for eating fish from California lakes and reservoirs without site-specific advice.

OEHHA’s fish advisory recommendations are based on the levels of contaminants, such as mercury, that persist in the environment and accumulate in fish. They are independent of any shorter-term advisories to limit fish intake due to freshwater or estuarine harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can produce toxins harmful to humans. Before fishing, check the California HAB Reports Map to see if there are HAB advisories and always practice healthy water habits.

The Hodges Reservoir advisory joins more than 150 other OEHHA advisories that provide site-specific, health-based fish consumption advice for many places where people catch and eat fish in California, including lakes, rivers, bays, reservoirs and the California coast. Advisories are available on OEHHA’s Fish Advisories webpage.

OEHHA’s mission is to protect and enhance the health of Californians and the environment through scientific evaluations that inform, support, and guide regulatory and other actions in the state.