When a fish consumption restriction is placed on a body of water, anglers may still fish these waters for sport, but are prohibited from taking fish for human consumption. Currently, the only body of waterwithin the state with a fish consumption restriction is the north Fork of the Holston River (from Saltville to the Virginia/Tennessee border). VDH recommends the following precautions to reduce any potential harmful effects from eating contaminated fish: ·Eat smaller, younger fish (within legal limits). Younger fish are less likely to contain harmful levels of contaminants than older, larger fish. ·Remove the skin, the fat from the belly and top, and the internal organs before cooking the fish. ·Bake, broil, or grill on an open rack to allow fats to drain away from the meat. ·Discard the fats that cook out of the fish and avoid or reduce the amount of fish drippings orbroth that are used to flavor the meal. Eat less deep fried fish since frying seals contaminants into the fatty tissue. For general questions about fishing regulations in Virginia, go to the Game and Inland Fisheries website at http://www.dgif.state.va.us/fishing/index.cfm/ If you would like to review data from fish tissue analysis on samples taken from Virginia waters, please visit the Department of Environmental Quality website at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/fishtissue/fishtissue.html/ .