For years, scientists have tested contaminants in the Northwest's fish. Others have surveyed anglers to gauge their diet.

, which wants faster cleanup of polluted riverbeds, is taking a more personal tack: asking anglers for a fish they've just landed -- and planned to eat -- then testing it.

Initial results, limited to three fish so far, have been eye opening, confirming high levels of toxics and illustrating the limitations of Oregon's

.

"Our purpose isn't to say people shouldn't be eating these fish," said Lorri Epstein, riverkeeper's water quality director. "It's to say we need to remove toxics so people can eat fish without worrying."

Daniel Pop was fishing in Kelley Point Park's muddy stretch of the Columbia Slough this summer, as he has since he immigrated from Romania 19 years ago. Epstein stopped by and asked if he'd mind handing over a suckerfish for testing.

An independent laboratory found PCBs, a probable carcinogen, about 270 times the

's recommended level for unrestricted consumption. U.S. production of PCBs, an industrial insulator, was banned in the 1970s, but it sticks around for decades.

A fish consumption advisory sign at Pop's fishing spot disappeared recently. But Pop, 48, said he and other fishermen ignored the sign when it was there.

"You see foreign people out here -- Spanish, Russian, Chinese -- because they are used to the fish from muddy water in their countries," he said. "You want a taste that reminds you of your country."

A bass caught near Hood River showed relatively high levels of mercury. The stomach and attached meat from a sturgeon caught near Astoria had elevated mercury and levels of PCBs 70 times over the EPA guideline.

Bob Rees, a fishing guide for 15 years, caught the sturgeon. He said he knew there were problems with dioxins and PCBs.

But seeing the results "was shocking," Rees said. "It's really rather maddening that there are other industries that have such a dramatic impact on the fishing industry."

The health risks of eating contaminated fish, the number of people catching them and the amount they eat -- is a matter of great debate.

The answers could help determine how many millions of dollars go into cleaning

, the Willamette River Superfund site loaded with PCBs.

Using EPA's cancer risk estimates, the results from the slough sucker translate to an added lifetime risk of contracting cancer of about 1-in-5,000 -- if a person ate a couple of fish that contaminated each month.

In prior studies, white sturgeon and suckers have been among the fish with the highest contamination levels. Sturgeon are long-lived, and both are freshwater fish that live near polluted river bottoms.

Migratory fish that spend much of their lives at sea, including salmon and steelhead, have considerably lower levels of toxics.

David Carpenter, director of

's Institute for Health and the Environment, said levels in riverkeeper's testing are comparable to Great Lakes and Hudson River fish. Fish with high levels of PCBs likely carry other contaminants, he noted, including DDT, flame retardants and toxic metals.

That doesn't mean people should stop eating fish, a healthy food, said Carpenter and David Farrer, a public health toxicologist with the

.

"If it's a choice between a fish that has a lot of PCBs in it and a Big Mac, I'd be hard pressed to say you're not better off eating the fish," Farrer said.

Contaminants congregate in fatty tissue. Removing the skin, fat, eggs and internal organs reduces exposure, as does allowing fats to drip off during cooking.

The lower Columbia River has a fish advisory that recommends using those preparation methods for all fish.

In the slough, an advisory recommends that pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, and women 18 to 45 eat no more than two meals of resident fish a month.

The slough and connecting channels run 31 miles from Fairview Lake to the Willamette River at Kelley Point Park. It's slow moving, polluted over decades by industries, farms, roads and stormwater outfalls.

The

has found less than 100 slough anglers in surveys since 1995. BES prints signs and brochures in different languages and workers visit ethnic communities to discuss risks in the slough and the harbor.

The city's sewer ratepayers have spent $150 million eliminating sewer overflows to the slough. BES is working with the state on stormwater control and cleanup.

Expect slow progress, said Nancy Hendrickson, the slough's watershed manager -- PCBs are scattered throughout the slough, not concentrated in hot spots.

"When something is everywhere," she said, "there just aren't easy solutions."

; Twitter: