GALVESTON, Texas — Spotted sea trout and catfish caught in Galveston Bay have high levels of toxins, prompting the state to warn seafood lovers against eating too much of the fish.

The Texas Department of State Health Services issued an advisory Tuesday saying people should eat no more than 8 ounces a month of trout, commonly called speckled trout, or catfish caught in Galveston Bay, Chocolate Bay, East and West bays and Trinity Bay, said Emily Palmer, department spokeswoman.

Pregnant women, women who are nursing or who may become pregnant and children should not eat catfish or speckled trout caught in those waters.

It is still safe to eat other seafood caught in those areas, Palmer said.

Speckled trout are among the most sought-after fish by recreational anglers, according to information from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The state tested the fish for two years before determining they had unacceptable levels of toxins that can cause cancer, skin rash, liver complications and problems with immune, reproductive or developmental systems.

The fish had two types of toxins: polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, or dioxins.

Toxins called PCBs were used as coolants and lubricants in electrical transformers and capacitors before the Environmental Protection Agency banned them in 1979. Even though their production was banned, they did not have to be replaced in existing equipment, which would explain why they are still being found in fish.

Dioxins are unintended byproducts from industrial and chemical processes. Historically, dioxins have seeped into the environment from waste incineration, the manufacture and use of certain herbicides and chlorine bleaching of pulp and paper, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Government regulations of industries reduced the amount of dioxins released into the environment in the United States. Now, the largest source of dioxins in the environment is uncontrolled burning of residential waste, according to the government agency.

The advisory against eating the fish will remain in place indefinitely until the fish test clean, Palmer said.

“It will remain in effect until we see those levels decrease,” she said.

Unacceptable levels of PCBs led to similar advisories against eating speckled trout in upper Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel since the 1990s, Palmer said.