The Associated Press

AKRON, Ohio - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's newly released fish-eating advisories were largely based on 2-year-old information, the agency acknowledged.

The EPA hopes to get 2002 and 2003 data analyzed this year so it can be reflected in next year's advisories, said EPA spokeswoman Linda Oros. The EPA needs to hire a toxicologist to fully analyze the latest fish data, but there's not enough money to do so, she said.

That means the latest Ohio fish advisories are based on old information and this year's advisories are largely a repeat of last year's, Oros said.

Environmental groups are disappointed that the advisories are not more current, said Bryan Clark of the Ohio Public Interest Research Group in Cleveland.

Such advisories are supposed to analyze the most recent data "to provide up-to-date information on the safety of fish," he said. "How can it be considered up to date when it's 2 years old?"

The advisories warn against eating more than one meal a week of fish caught in Ohio, including Lake Erie, because of mercury contamination.

An additional 51 waterways and lakes carry a warning to eat only one meal a month or every other month. The warnings advise against eating any fish from 12 Ohio locations. The new advisories reflect limited new data from Lake Erie, but not from the rest of the state, Oros said.

In most cases, advisories change little from year to year, and the state is fairly confident that Ohioans are not being placed at risk, she said.

The state cannot say with certainty whether polluted waters are cleaner or if advisories against eating fish from certain waters should be continued, she said.

The EPA will distribute 50,000 copies of a new, simplified flier that will go out with fishing licenses, and is working with the Ohio Department of Health to spread the word about fish advisories through the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program.

The EPA took over the state program after the state Health Department last year abolished it, saving the department $100,000 a year.