In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that automobile exhaust, asphalt particles, spilled engine oil and other fossil fuels were altering the DNA of bullhead catfish found in the Anacostia River and “driving their liver and skin tumors to a surprising level.”
The D.C. government, meanwhile, has in recent months laid out plans to build new communities along the Anacostia: on the Southwest Waterfront, at Poplar Point and at Hill East. Officials want the river to be regarded as an amenity, not where catfish go to grow tumors.
“The scary thing is we’re breathing all this stuff first,” said James Connolly, president of the Anacostia Watershed Society. “Then it’s washing into the river.”
This summer, thousands of people armed with poles and bait will relax at one of D.C.’s hot-spot waterfront locations along the Potomac or Anacostia rivers and try their hands at fishing. For fun. Or perhaps for lunch.
Despite its reputation as a polluted wasteland, the Anacostia is open for the District’s 10,000 licensed anglers. The river is well stocked with a variety of fish, from striped and largemouth bass to walleye and perch, said Bryan King, associate director of fisheries and wildlife with the Department of the Environment. And some of those fish are eatable in small doses, King said, though the agency recommends catching and releasing “to keep stock up.”
“I’m very committed to the Anacostia River becoming a contributing asset to D.C. and the neighborhoods,” said Ward 6 D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells, who knew off the top of his head that the Anacostia has 52 species of fish. “We want it to be safe for swimming and fishing.”
But for now, the Anacostia maintains a tainted reputation. Raw sewage dumps and fuel spills will do that.
“Simply by access points and by the stigma associated with the Anacostia, the Potomac does receive more fishing pressure than the Anacostia does,” King said.
The watershed society was established in 1989 with the goal of making the Anacostia fishable and swimmable by 2000. Progress is being made, Connolly said, but it’s slow.
“It’s probably going to take a couple more decades,” he said.
