{"id":18022,"date":"2026-04-15T09:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=18022"},"modified":"2026-04-15T09:45:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:45:20","slug":"flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>April 15, 2026<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Brookie Crawford, <a href=\"mailto:brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov\">brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for<\/strong> <strong>John W. Flannagan Reservoir<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Contaminants Identified in Walleye, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass <\/em><\/p>\n<p>RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 Effective immediately, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is issuing a fish consumption advisory for the Flannagan Reservoir due to elevated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/public-health-toxicology\/polychlorinated-biphenyls-pcbs\/\">polychlorinated biphenyls<\/a> (PCBs) levels in specific fish species. The affected species include walleye, channel catfish, and largemouth bass.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18024\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18024\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-18024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map-300x283.png\" alt=\"Map of the fish consumption advisory for the Flannigan Reservoir\" width=\"300\" height=\"283\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map-300x283.png 300w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map.png 473w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18024\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The red icons indicate a Do Not Eat fish consumption advisory for the walleye, as well as, a 2 Meals\/ Month fish consumption advisory for the channel catfish and the largemouth bass.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This advisory for Flannagan Reservoir includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Cranesnest River arm upstream to the Highway 83 Bridge.<\/li>\n<li>The Pound River arm upstream to the Lower Georges Fork Hollow (Route 621) Bridge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fish tissue sample results collected from May 2022 through September 2025 show PCBs levels in walleye, channel catfish, and largemouth bass exceed the amount considered safe for long-term human consumption.<\/p>\n<p>VDH advises eating no more than two fish meals per month of channel catfish and largemouth bass and not eating walleye from the advisory area. A meal is defined as eight ounces of fish.<\/p>\n<table width=\"696\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"192\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Walleye<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Walleye.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18025\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Walleye-300x158.png\" alt=\"Photo of Walleye\" width=\"150\" height=\"79\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Walleye-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Walleye-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Walleye.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" width=\"219\"><strong>Channel Catfish<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Channel-Catfish.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18026\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Channel-Catfish-300x158.png\" alt=\"Photo of a Channel Catfish\" width=\"150\" height=\"79\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Channel-Catfish-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Channel-Catfish-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Channel-Catfish.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"187\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Largemouth Bass<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Largemouth-bass.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-17994 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Largemouth-bass.png\" alt=\"Photo of a Largemouth Bass\" width=\"96\" height=\"27\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"98\"><strong>Flannagan Reservoir<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"192\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">No Meals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" width=\"219\">\u2264 2 Meals\/Month<\/td>\n<td width=\"187\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u2264 2 Meals\/Month<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Eating fish that contain PCBs may increase your risk of cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Fish consumption advisories alert people to contaminants present in affected fish species. They do not prohibit people from eating fish. Children and women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant have an increased health risk. Nursing mothers and young children should not eat fish from this advisory area.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, this advisory area poses no health risk for recreational activities. Swimming, water skiing, and boating can continue in the advisory area.<\/p>\n<p>Other ways to reduce your exposure to PCBs in fish:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eat smaller, younger fish (within the legal limits). Younger fish are less likely to contain harmful levels of contaminants.<\/li>\n<li>Remove the skin, the fat from the belly and top, and the internal organs before cooking the fish.<\/li>\n<li>Bake, broil, or grill on an open rack to allow fats to drain. Avoid pan frying in butter or animal fat because these methods hold fat juices.<\/li>\n<li>Discard the fat that cooks out of the fish and avoid or reduce the amount of fish drippings that are used to flavor the meal.<\/li>\n<li>Eat less deep-fried fish since frying seals contaminants into the fatty tissue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information, visit the VDH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/public-health-toxicology\/fish-consumption-advisory\/\">Fish Consumption Advisory page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 15, 2026 Media Contact: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir Contaminants Identified in Walleye, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 Effective immediately, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is issuing a fish consumption advisory for the Flannagan Reservoir due to elevated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":0,"parent":16853,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[1658,600,1652,1656,1659,1657],"class_list":["post-18022","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-channel-catfish","tag-fish-consumption-advisory","tag-largemouth-bass","tag-pcbs","tag-polychlorinated-biphenyls","tag-walleye"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 15, 2026 Media Contact: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir Contaminants Identified in Walleye, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 Effective immediately, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is issuing a fish consumption advisory for the Flannagan Reservoir due to elevated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T13:45:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"446\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\\\/\",\"name\":\"Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir - Newsroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map-300x283.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T13:45:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-15T13:45:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map-300x283.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map-300x283.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"2026 Regional News Releases\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir - Newsroom","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir - Newsroom","og_description":"April 15, 2026 Media Contact: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir Contaminants Identified in Walleye, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 Effective immediately, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is issuing a fish consumption advisory for the Flannagan Reservoir due to elevated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_modified_time":"2026-04-15T13:45:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":473,"height":446,"url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/","name":"Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir - Newsroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map-300x283.png","datePublished":"2026-04-15T13:45:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-15T13:45:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map-300x283.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Flannagan-Reservoir-Fish-Consumption-Advisory-Map-300x283.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/flannagan-reservoir-fish-consuption-advisory\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"2026 Regional News Releases","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Virginia Health Officials Issue Fish Consumption Advisory for John W. Flannagan Reservoir"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/444"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18027,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18022\/revisions\/18027"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}