KILLARNEY LAKE — Carson Watkins pulled up a gill net set by Idaho Fish and Game on Killarney Lake on Thursday and up came a tench fish, a member of the carp family.

"These we're not interested in it," IDFG's regional fisheries biologist said, letting the fish go back in the lake.

A short time later, a northern pike and smallmouth bass surfaced in the net.

Those were keepers for a fish tissue sampling program being sponsored by multiple agencies to determine if additional fish consumption guidelines should be issued for the Coeur d'Alene Basin due to mining contamination from the Silver Valley.

"Eating fish is an important part of North Idaho culture," Watkins said. "We often field calls wondering how much fish is safe to eat from the upper basin.

"If you don't consume a lot of fish — maybe a couple a month, which is what most people eat — you're OK. But, beyond that, we ultimately don't know, which is why we're doing this program to determine safe levels of consumption."

Watkins said there haven't been reported problems of eating fish from the basin over the years, but, to be on the safe side, IDFG advises limiting the consumption to two fish per month from the Coeur d'Alene River and chain lakes.

The current advisory for the general public for Lake Coeur d'Alene — farther downstream from the historic mining activities but still part of the basin — is a maximum of 20 kokanee fillet meals per month. Other advisories include a maximum of 14 bullhead per month and eight bass. The bass advisory is statewide due to mercury contamination.

More information about fish advisories can be found at http://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/. Open the "Health" link, followed by "Environmental Health" and "Fish Advisories."

Watkins said data generated through the fish tissue sampling program will determine whether there needs to be additional advisories and either stricter or less stringent ones.

"Hopefully this information will allow us to put hard and fast guidelines in place," he said.

The program is being sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, IDFG, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.

"There is a need to collect more comprehensive and current data on the Coeur d'Alene River, chain lakes and Spokane River," said Ed Moreen, EPA project manager in Coeur d'Alene. "The last fish sampling for Lake Coeur d'Alene was conducted more than 13 years ago and didn’t include certain game species such as Northern pike and therefore needs to be updated.

"Fish tissue sampling has not been conducted and fully analyzed for the Coeur d'Alene River, the chain lakes or the Spokane River and is being conducted primarily due to the widespread legacy mining contamination in the Coeur d'Alene Basin."

Dana Swift, mine waste project coordinator for the IDEQ, said the project is occurring over two years. Sampling is this summer and will end in August. Laboratory analysis will be in the fall and winter, followed by the multi-agency Idaho Fish Consumption Advisory Program data analysis the following year.

"We anticipate that the laboratory results will be provided to us in February 2017," said Jim Vannoy, environmental health program manager with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. "A report on our findings and fish eating guidance is estimated to be completed by May 2017."

Field crews from IDFG, the Tribe and IDEQ are collecting fish, including northern pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass, kokanee, brook trout, mountain whitefish, bullheads and pan fish such as bluegill, crappie and perch, through August.

The fish for the research program are being collected via gill nets and electrofishing (temporarily stunning) in nine different zones on the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, Coeur d'Alene River, chain lakes, Lake Coeur d'Alene and Spokane River.

"This list was selected to represent fish species present in each water body, fish harvested for consumption and fish life histories," Swift said. "These species are consumed in the area by recreational and subsistence anglers."

A total of 300 fish will be sampled.

"The sampling areas were selected to be geographically representative of large water bodies and include high-use fishery areas with species that are exposed to contaminants," Swift said. "The fish samples will be analyzed for cadmium, lead, mercury and arsenic."

Moreen said the basin is an "amazing treasure" and the agencies want to ensure the public has accurate safety information.

"It’s about protecting the health of people through education on making informed choices about how to 'play clean' in the Coeur d'Alene Basin," he said.

For more information about health or recreation in the Coeur d'Alene Basin, call IDEQ at 783-5781, Lake Coeur d'Alene management coordinators at 666-4623 or 667-5772 or the Panhandle Health District at 783-0707.