KNOX, SEVIER COUNTIES – The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has issued a precautionary consumption advisory for black bass due to mercury in the French Broad River in Sevier and Knox counties.
TDEC advises that pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children avoid eating the black bass and that all others limit consumption to one meal per month. Other recreational activities such as boating, kayaking, swimming, wading, and catch-and-release fishing carry no risk.
From 1998- 2025, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and EPA, in cooperation with TDEC, collected fish for tissue analysis on French Broad River. The targeted fish species were black bass (largemouth bass, spotted bass, and smallmouth bass). Fish were analyzed for mercury by TDH through a contract with TDEC and at the EPA laboratory. French Broad River is a tributary to the Tennessee River near Sevierville, Tenn.
The mercury trigger point for a precautionary advisory is 0.3 mg/kg. Black bass were above the trigger point with a combined weight mercury average 0.42 mg/kg. The advisory for this section of the Duck River is part of TDEC’s responsibilities under the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act…