Did you know that Coosa Riverkeeper hosts a statewide toll-free hotline for fish consumption advisories? Even better, the hotline has now been updated to include the advisories in Spanish! The Alabama Department of Public Health, the state agency in charge of releasing the advisories, only releases the advisories in English, in an online document.
While this vital information is greatly appreciated, the state agency does not account for any language, literacy, or technological barriers.The importance of making this public health information accessible, and available to everyone cannot be stressed enough. After 4 years of the toll-free hotline only being available in English, Spanish-speaking communities can now call 1-844-219-7475 and hear the state-issued consumption recommendations for EVERY waterway in Alabama. The Spanish translations are at the end of each extension.
Our efforts in translating important public health information isn’t stopping with the toll-free hotline. Coosa Riverkeeper has also been working on translating program FAQs, forms to report pollution, safe swimming tips, and more to ensure the Hispanic and Latino populations in Alabama can know how to recreate safely. Our team is also actively working on more translation projects such as recipe cards and cooking videos. This will give Spanish-speaking communities the opportunity to learn how to reduce their exposure to contaminants from fish consumption advisories.
The Coosa Riverkeeper Fish Guide program has been developed over several years as a response to surveys conducted with more than 250 anglers along the Coosa River. These surveys shed light on the language, literacy, and technology barriers that communities face, and therefore the risk these communities have, and have a right to know about. The purpose of Fish Guide is to educate anglers through the state of the fish consumption advisories at their favorite fishing holes. While keeping up with the advisories each year as they are released, the program also provides ample opportunity for all anglers to learn about different fishing techniques, areas, safety, and much more. Check out all things Fish Guide at Coosariver.org/FishGuide.To learn more about anglers in all seasons of the year, our team is going to conduct creel surveys in the months of November through January. Learn more about the 2 internship opportunities available at Coosariver.org/Careers.
Are you fluent in Spanish? Coosa Riverkeeper would love your help in active and future translation projects! Please email [email protected] for more information.
