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Fishing a Superfund Site: Dissonance and Risk Perception of Environmental Hazards by Fishermen in Puerto Rico

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  • Joanna Burger
  • Michael Gochfeld

Abstract

Risk perception studies show that individuals tend to underestimate significant risks, overestimate negligible ones, and distrust authorities. They also rely on a variety of strategies or heuristics to reach decisions regarding their risk‐taking behavior. We report on a survey of fishermen and crabbers engaged in recreational and subsistence fishing in a Puerto Rican estuary (near Humacao), which has been declared a “Superfund site” because of suspected contamination by mercury, and at ecologically similar control sites. Nearly everyone interviewed at the Humacao site was aware of the mercury contamination, but either denied its importance, believed the contamination was restricted to a distant part of the estuary, or assumed that the estuary would be closed by the authorities if the threat was real. All site‐users consumed the fish and crabs they caught. At Humacao, the average catch was 7 fish per fishermen (mostly tilapia, Tilapia mossambica, and tarpon, Megalops atlantica) and 13 crabs per crabber (all blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus). On average, the site‐users returned to the lagoons about 3‐4 times per month. At control sites, fewer fish were eaten. The worst case consumption of tarpon, a species which concentrated mercury at Eastern Puerto Rico, provided an exposure exceeding the EPA reference dose, whereas consumption of one tarpon per week did not entail excess exposure. Fortunately, few individuals caught tarpon exclusively. Unlike counterparts in the northeastern United States, they trusted authorities and indicated that they would have heeded warnings of mercury contamination posted where they fished.

Suggested Citation

  • Joanna Burger & Michael Gochfeld, 1991. "Fishing a Superfund Site: Dissonance and Risk Perception of Environmental Hazards by Fishermen in Puerto Rico," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 269-277, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:11:y:1991:i:2:p:269-277
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1991.tb00603.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Harry Otway & Brian Wynne, 1989. "Risk Communication: Paradigm and Paradox," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(2), pages 141-145, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joanna Burger & Robert A. Kennamer & I. Lehr Brisbin & Michael Gochfeld, 1998. "A Risk Assessment for Consumers of Mourning Doves," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(5), pages 563-573, October.
    2. Helen May & Joanna Burger, 1996. "Fishing in a Polluted Estuary: Fishing Behavior, Fish Consumption, and Potential Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 459-471, August.
    3. Vern R. Walker, 1995. "Direct Inference, Probability, and a Conceptual Gulf in Risk Communication," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(5), pages 603-609, October.

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