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HELENA (AP) - The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission has approved new fishing restrictions on a portion of upper Big Spring Creek near Lewistown because of elevated levels of PCBs detected in fish.

The commission late Thursday gave state fisheries officials permission to impose catch-and-release only fishing below the Big Springs Trout Hatchery.

But officials were still determining how far down the 31-mile stream the regulations would be imposed, with a final decision expected sometime next week, department spokesman Ron Aasheim said Friday.

"Before we decide how far to extend to restrictions, we are going to do some more checking," he said. "We are being conservative and want to err on the side of caution since this is a health issue."

State regulators last summer found high levels of PCBs in sediments just downstream from the fish hatchery. Subsequent tests this fall found that levels of PCBs in rainbow trout and brown trout just below the hatchery exceeded the recommended level for human consumption.

The original proposal called for imposing catch-and-release regulations on a 7-mile stretch of the creek from the Ash Street Bridge in Lewistown to the headwaters of the creek; and also the East Fork of Big Spring Creek up to the base of the dam, said Chris Hunter, chief of fisheries.

Officials believe the PCBs likely came from paint that was used on portions of the fish hatchery decades ago.

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