Why was fishing banned in the Hudson River?

For Your Health- In 1976, the Upper Hudson River was closed to fishing due to extremely high amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish. These levels posed a high risk of possible harmful health effects in humans. Since 1976, the manufacture of PCBs has been banned and their use phased out.



Fishing was primarily banned or restricted in the Hudson River due to severe PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) contamination. Between 1947 and 1977, General Electric discharged an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs from two capacitor manufacturing plants into the upper river. These "forever chemicals" settled into the sediment and entered the food chain, accumulating in the fatty tissues of fish. In 1976, New York State officially closed the commercial fishery for most species and issued strict "Eat None" advisories that lasted for decades. While the EPA oversaw a massive dredging project to remove contaminated sediment, high levels of PCBs remain in the ecosystem in 2026. Consequently, while recreational "catch and release" fishing is permitted in many areas, health advisories still strongly warn against eating fish caught in the river, especially for children and women of childbearing age. The ban served as a critical public health measure to prevent the long-term toxic effects of PCB ingestion, such as cancer and developmental issues.

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Since 1975, New York State has restricted fishing in the Hudson River and the consumption of fish taken from the Hudson because of the presence of high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the fish.

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An estimated 100,000 people in the Hudson Valley rely on the Hudson for their drinking water.

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The Hudson River lacked the necessary spawning and nursery capacity to maintain salmon. The first major tributary, the Mohawk River, entering from the west above Albany, was impassable due to the 70 foot falls at Cohoes.

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While there are orange individuals in the Hudson, these tend to be easy pickings for predators; one study of the diet of ospreys along the Hudson found that goldfish were a common prey of this fish-eating hawk. Thus the goldfish we catch are more likely to be olive green or brown than orange or gold.

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Men over 15 and women over 50 face fewer health risks from some chemicals. For that reason, they can eat up to six crabs a week from the Hudson River and New York City waters. Crabs from the Long Island Sound, Jamaica Bay and the ocean are less contaminated and are a better choice for everyone.

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Predators like blue crabs and sturgeons do eat zebra mussels, but have never been shown to control natural populations. Research on new control measures, including biological controls, is ongoing, but the changes we've seen to the Hudson's ecosystem probably are irreversible or at least long-lasting.

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For about half its length, the Hudson is actually a tidal estuary, where salt water from the ocean combines with fresh water from northern tributaries. The Hudson is tidal from the mouth of the Hudson in New York Harbor to the Federal Dam in Troy, a distance of about 153 miles.

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Geology. The Hudson is sometimes called, in geological terms, a drowned river. The rising sea levels after the retreat of the Wisconsin glaciation, the most recent ice age, have resulted in a marine incursion that drowned the coastal plain and brought salt water well above the mouth of the river.

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Seawater from the ocean generally has a salinity level of about 35,000ppm. Freshwater draining into the Hudson River usually has a salinity level of about 25-50ppm.

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