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An exploratory survey was undertaken in the fall 1995 open-water fishing season with nine Bangladeshi and nine Vietnamese-origin sportfishers. Survey methodology and techniques of dietary and fish intake assessment were adapted to the cultural values and second language of each community. A 70-item instrument assessing sportfishing practices and fish consumption habits was administered by dietitians in participants' homes. Two 24-h diet recalls (aided by photographs taken by the participants) and a fish consumption calendar permitted the assessment of fish intake in the overall dietary context. A fish frequency item addressed consumption of locally available fish species (both sport and market fish) as well as imported frozen or dried species. Annually, Bangladeshi fishers consumed 46.8+/-25.6 sportfish meals, and Vietnamese fishers ate 40. 7+/-35.1 meals. In contrast, Bangladeshis reported greater annual consumption of imported, frozen nonsportfish (76.0+/-40.9 meals), and the Vietnamese ate more ocean than freshwater fish (45.1+/-34.4 ocean fish meals). Fish constituted approximately 19% of all protein foods eaten among the Bangladeshi fishers and 10% in the Vietnamese sample. Plasma and erythrocyte eicosapentanoic acid (EPA):arachidonic acid (AA) ratios supported findings from the fish frequency question showing that the two groups of Asian-origin fishers eat differing quantities of different fish species and that Asian-origin sportfishers-particularly the Bangladeshis-eat fish overall more frequently and in greater variety and quantity than francophone Quebecers; species selection appears to be both culturally motivated and influenced by the availability of St. Lawrence sportfish., (Copyright 1999 Academic Press.)

Fishing and fish consumption are widely practiced among members of certain ethnocultural groups. Informal assessment led us to ascribe high levels of consumption of locally caught sportfish to Montrealers of Asian origin and to hypothesize that their choices of species and fish organs differ from those of the majority group. An exploratory assessment of contaminant bioindicators reflective of St. Lawrence River fish consumption was conducted in late 1995 among nine Vietnamese and nine Bangladeshi Montreal sportfishers identified by community contacts. Vietnamese participants, six men and three women, were 27-70 (median 36) years of age and had immigrated to Canada 3-20 (median 7) years earlier. In contrast, the nine Bangladeshi males aged 28-41 (median 34) years had been in Canada for 2-13 (median 4) years. Bio-indicator concentrations among Bangladeshi and Vietnamese participants are compared to those found for majority-community Montreal-area high-level consumers recruited on the St. Lawrence River during winter 1995. All results are presented as the median and 90th percentile. Hair mercury concentrations were higher for both Vietnamese (1.2, 4.6 microgram/g) and Bangladeshis (1.1, 2.3 microgram/g) than for majority-community sportfishers (0.7, 1.9 microgram/g). Certain organochlorine levels, specifically total PCB (estimated by plasma Aroclor 1260), p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, and B-BHC, were highest in the Bangladeshis compared to Vietnamese and to majority-community sportfishers. In contrast, plasma levels of other pesticides were low in all three groups, including mirex, chlordane, and cis-nonachlor. A correlation between plasma p,p'-DDT levels and recency of arrival in Canada was found for the Bangladeshis. These data suggest a distinct pattern of tissue organochlorines, which we postulate relates to exposure prior to arrival in Canada and perhaps to the ongoing consumption of foods (other than St. Lawrence River sportfish) specific to these groups., (Copyright 1999 Academic Press.)