In response to the growing concerns among Chugach communities, contaminant body burden and histopathological condition of chum and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus keta and Oncorhynchus nerka) and the shellfish cockles and softshell clams (Clinocardium nuttallii and Mya arenaria) were assessed. The fish and shellfish were collected from traditional subsistence harvest areas in the vicinity of Nanwalek, Port Graham and Seldovia, AK, and were analyzed for trace metals and residues of organic contaminants. Additionally, the fish and shellfish were histologically characterized for the presence, prevalence and severity of tissue pathology, disease, and parasite infections. Data served under this project include measurements of trace elements, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls, DDTs, chlorinated hydrocarbons and histopathology parameters, which include an array of about 30 parasitic taxa (e.g. bucephalus, chlamydia, ciliates, cestodes and nematodes) and 11 diseases (e.g. tumors, neoplasm and necrosis). This project provides invaluable baseline data that is georeferenced and served on the internet through the NOAA's National Status and Trends data portal.

The state of Washington routinely experiences seasonal restrictions on commercial and recreational shellfish harvest due to two toxic phytoplankton syndromes, Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), which is often referred to as Domoic Acid Poisoning (DAP). The biotoxin that causes PSP temporarily interferes with the transmission of nerve impulses in warm-blooded animals, causing symptoms in humans such as, numbness and tingling of the lips, tongue, face and extremities, difficulty talking, breathing, swallowing and muscle incoordinations. Symptoms develop quickly (within 1-2 hours of consumption) and can result in death. The species that causes PSP in Washington state marine waters is Alexandrium catenella. Alexandrium is usually present in small numbers; however, when environmental conditions are optimum, rapid reproduction occurs. Filter-feeding shellfish can accumulate the toxins to dangerous levels during these "blooms". Domoic acid poisoning is caused by eating fish, shellfish or crab containing the toxin. Symptoms include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramps within 24 hours of digestion. In severe cases, neurological symptoms develop within 48 hours and include headache, dizziness, confusion, disorientation, loss of short-term memory, motor weakness, seizures, profuse respiratory secretions, cardiac arrhythmias, coma and possibly death. Domoic acid produced by marine diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, was first detected on the Pacific coast in 1991 when several pelican and cormorant deaths were link to domoic acid in anchovies. The Washington State Department of Health routinely monitors for PSP and ASP in shellfish from areas throughout the state. Areas are closed for harvest of molluscan shellfish when PSP toxin levels are equal to or exceed 80 ug toxin/100 grams shellfish tissue. Molluscan shellfish areas are closed when domoic acid (DA) levels reach 15 ppm in a composite sample of six shellfish (this level was changed to 20 ppm in 2001), whereas Dungeness crab areas are closed when DA levels reach 30 ppm in three of six individual crab viscera.

The state of Washington routinely experiences seasonal restrictions on commercial and recreational shellfish harvest due to two toxic phytoplankton syndromes, Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), which is often referred to as Domoic Acid Poisoning (DAP). The biotoxin that causes PSP temporarily interferes with the transmission of nerve impulses in warm-blooded animals, causing symptoms in humans such as, numbness and tingling of the lips, tongue, face and extremities, difficulty talking, breathing, swallowing and muscle incoordinations. Symptoms develop quickly (within 1-2 hours of consumption) and can result in death. The species that causes PSP in Washington state marine waters is Alexandrium catenella. Alexandrium is usually present in small numbers; however, when environmental conditions are optimum, rapid reproduction occurs. Filter-feeding shellfish can accumulate the toxins to dangerous levels during these "blooms". Domoic acid poisoning is caused by eating fish, shellfish or crab containing the toxin. Symptoms include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramps within 24 hours of digestion. In severe cases, neurological symptoms develop within 48 hours and include headache, dizziness, confusion, disorientation, loss of short-term memory, motor weakness, seizures, profuse respiratory secretions, cardiac arrhythmias, coma and possibly death. Domoic acid produced by marine diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, was first detected on the Pacific coast in 1991 when several pelican and cormorant deaths were link to domoic acid in anchovies. Therefore, this dataset only contains PSP data for 1957-1988. The Washington State Department of Health routinely monitors for PSP and ASP in shellfish from areas throughout the state. Areas are closed for harvest of molluscan shellfish when PSP toxin levels are equal to or exceed 80 ug toxin/100 grams shellfish tissue. Molluscan shellfish areas are closed when domoic acid (DA) levels reach 15 ppm in a composite sample of six shellfish (this level was changed to 20 ppm in 2001), whereas Dungeness crab areas are closed when DA levels reach 30 ppm in three of six individual crab viscera.

Fish and invertebrates that are unintentionally captured during commercial fishing operations and then released back into the ocean suffer mortality at unknown rates, introducing uncertainty into the fishery management process. Attempts have been made to quantify discard mortality rates using reflex action mortality predictors or RAMP which use the presence or absence of a suite of reflexes to predict discard mortality. This method was applied to Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, during the 2010-2012 fisheries in the Bering Sea. Discard mortality in the fishery is currently assumed to be 50% in stock assessment models, but that rate is not based on empirical data and is widely recognized to be in need of refinement. Over 19,000 crab were evaluated using the RAMP method. The estimated discard mortality rate was 4.5% (SD = 0.812), significantly below the rate used in stock assessment models. Predicted discard mortality rates from the 2010-2012 study were strongly correlated with the air temperature at the St. Paul Island airport in the Pribilof Islands. Using this relationship the discard mortality rate from 1991-2011was estimated at 4.2% (SD = 1.08).

The state of Washington routinely experiences seasonal restrictions on commercial and recreational shellfish harvest due to two toxic phytoplankton syndromes, Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), which is often referred to as Domoic Acid Poisoning (DAP). The biotoxin that causes PSP temporarily interferes with the transmission of nerve impulses in warm-blooded animals, causing symptoms in humans such as, numbness and tingling of the lips, tongue, face and extra difficulty talking, breathing, swallowing and muscle incoordinations. Symptoms develop quickly (within 1-2 hours of consumption) and can result in death. The species that causes PSP in Washington state marine waters is Alexandrium catenella. Alexandrium is usually present in small numbers; however, when environmental conditions are optimum, rapid reproduction occurs. Filter-feeding shellfish can accumulate the toxins to dangerous levels during these "blooms". Domoic acid poisoning is caused by eating fish, shellfish or crab containing the toxin. Symptoms include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramps within 24 hours of digestion. In severe cases, neurological symptoms develop within 48 hours and include headache, dizziness, confusion, disorientation, loss of short-term memory, motor weakness, seizures, profuse respiratory secretions, cardiac arrhythmias, coma and possibly death. Domoic acid produced by marine diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, was first detected on the Pacific coast in 1991 when several pelican and cormorant deaths were link to domoic acid in anchovies. The Washington State Department of Health routinely monitors for PSP and ASP in shellfish from areas throughout the state. Areas are closed for harvest of molluscan shellfish when PSP toxin levels are equal to or exceed 80 ug toxin/100 grams shellfish tissue. Molluscan shellfish areas are closed when domoic acid (DA) levels reach 15 ppm in a composite sample of six shellfish (this level was changed to 20 ppm in 2001), whereas Dungeness crab areas are closed when DA levels reach 30 ppm in three of six individual crab viscera.

The Ecotox Program is at the forefront, nationally and internationally, of targeted research to characterize the impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on NOAA trust resources, particularly fish early life stages. This work is extending lessons learned from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, through the Cosco Busan spill in San Francisco Bay, to an array of current and intensive activities associated with the Deepwater Horizon natural resource damage assessment in the Gulf of Mexico. This research has been particularly influential in recent years (PNAS papers in 2011 and 2012), with major Deepwater papers forthcoming in 2012 and 2013. Funding has come from NOS/ORR, the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, the Prince William Sound Regional Citizen's Advisory Council, the San Francisco Estuary Institute, and other sources. Ecotox is currently developing new tools to assess PAH exposure and toxicity in fish and other animals, with national applicability - e.g., in advance of anticipated oil drilling in the Arctic, beginning in the summer of 2012. 3 year study of effects of the Cosco Busan oil spill. Morphology, heart rate, hatching rate data of Pacific herring planted at oil and reference sites and correlating herring spawns at these sites. This work supports NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP).

The goal of this project is to assess habitat conditions that influence biodiversity and distribution of benthic infaunal communities, contaminants, and chemical body burdens of resident organisms as measures of environmental health in Bristol Bay. Bristol Bay boasts one of the largest commercial and subsistence salmon fisheries in the world. Significant mining activities have been proposed within the bay's watershed that could impact Bristol Bay chemistry and biology, but baseline data are lacking. Baseline data will be essential for monitoring pollution control effectiveness in the watershed. The datasets generated from this study will be incorporated into the NOAA's National Status and Trend (NS&T) Program database which has been developing a dynamic quantitative database on contaminants, toxicity and benthic infaunal species distribution assessed in the coastal U.S. since 1991. Therefore, the value of this project stems not only from the importance of the locale, but also from the fact that it will continue to expand the Alaskan data set in a national online database readily accessible to Alaskan coastal managers, scientific and local communities, and which will support the Alaska Fish Monitoring Program. This is a collaborative effort between the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), the Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). NPRB supplemental funding will allow the collaborators to conduct a comprehensive synoptic assessment of Nushagak and Kvichak Bays, which would not be otherwise possible.

The state of Washington routinely experiences seasonal restrictions on commercial and recreational shellfish harvest due to two toxic phytoplankton syndromes, Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), which is often referred to as Domoic Acid Poisoning (DAP). The biotoxin that causes PSP temporarily interferes with the transmission of nerve impulses in warm-blooded animals, causing symptoms in humans such as, numbness and tingling of the lips, tongue, face and extremities, difficulty talking, breathing, swallowing and muscle incoordinations. Symptoms develop quickly (within 1-2 hours of consumption) and can result in death. The species that causes PSP in Washington state marine waters is Alexandrium catenella. Alexandrium is usually present in small numbers; however, when environmental conditions are optimum, rapid reproduction occurs. Filter-feeding shellfish can accumulate the toxins to dangerous levels during these "blooms". Domoic acid poisoning is caused by eating fish, shellfish or crab containing the toxin. Symptoms include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramps within 24 hours of digestion. In severe cases, neurological symptoms develop within 48 hours and include headache, dizziness, confusion, disorientation, loss of short-term memory, motor weakness, seizures, profuse respiratory secretions, cardiac arrhythmias, coma and possibly death. Domoic acid produced by marine diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, was first detected on the Pacific coast in 1991 when several pelican and cormorant deaths were link to domoic acid in anchovies. The Washington State Department of Health routinely monitors for PSP and ASP in shellfish from areas throughout the state. Areas are closed for harvest of molluscan shellfish when PSP toxin levels are equal to or exceed 80 ug toxin/100 grams shellfish tissue. Molluscan shellfish areas are closed when domoic acid (DA) levels reach 15 ppm in a composite sample of six shellfish (this level was changed to 20 ppm in 2001), whereas Dungeness crab areas are closed when DA levels reach 30 ppm in three of six individual crab viscera.