Research support for various organizations in NOAA (Northwest Regional Office (NWR), HQ Office of Protected Resources, National Ocean Service (NOS) Coastal Services Center) for copper related to the harmful impacts of urban stormwater runoff, pesticide use, antifoulant use, and mining (e.g., proposed hardrock mining in Alaska). This has been a core focus of Ecotoxicology research for years, and may redirect to address key and high-profile data gaps specific to salmon habitat threats in Alaska. Behavioral observations and video of salmonids responding to odors and predators.

Long-running science support for the agency (Office of Protected Resources, others) related to the use of modern pesticides throughout the United States as a limiting factor for endangered species conservation and recovery. This work is currently supporting several national ESA Biological Opinions, and is under review by the National Academy of Sciences. The NAS panel recommendations are expected in the summer of 2013, and these will guide additional research in FY14 and beyond. Analyses of water and tissue samples for pesticides.

As part of a long-term contaminant-monitoring program of fish in Puget Sound and Georgia Basin, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and NWFSC have collaborated in collection and analyses of fish and other marine biota to determine contaminant exposure and potential effects to a wide range of marine species. NWFSC staff help collect samples and conduct chemical tracer analyses of a number of marine organisms to provide information about spatial and temporal changes in contaminant and lipid levels, as well as provide information on their potential health effects. WDFW takes the lead on study design and sample collection and provide expertise in the distribution and ecology of the fishes. This information can then be used by agency management to make informed decisions about Puget Sound/Georgia Basin fishery resources and habitats. In FY18-19, the NWFSC will analyze approximately 500 tissue/fluid samples of marine and anadromous fish species and the associated quality assurance samples for chemical contaminants (e.g., persistent organic pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), PAH metabolites, xenoestrogens), as well as percent solids and lipids. In addition, approximately 20 semi-permeable membranes and the associated quality assurance samples will be analyzed for this same suite of chemical contaminants. Determining levels of persistent organic pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and xenoestrogens in various matrices of fish from Puget Sound.

In the early 1990s, Redfish Lake sockeye salmon from the Sawtooth Basin in Idaho were on the brink of extinction, and they were listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act in 1991. To prevent extinction, a gene rescue captive broodstock program was established for the stock that consisted of taking most of the remaining gene pool into captive culture at specialized conservation hatcheries at the Manchester Research Station and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Eagle Hatchery. Efforts through the decade of the 1990s consisted of developing techniques for successful culture of sockeye salmon to adulthood, establishing rearing and spawning protocols to ensure preservation of stock diversity, and habitat enhancement at the rearing lakes. In the early 2000s, the program began to include a demographic focus to boost the population through rearing and release of enough juveniles to produce some adult returns. For the last few years, NWFSC eyed egg production has resulted in over 150,000 smolts being released into the Stanley basin annually for recovery, with plans to increase NWFSC eyed egg production to support release of half a million smolts in the Stanley Basin by 2017. In 2011, and for the fourth year in a row, record numbers of sockeye adults have returned to their native home in Idaho. All fresh mortalities larger than 100 mm are sent to Fish Health for pathology. Autopsy data is maintained on their database.

Long-running science support for the agency (Office of Protected Resources, others) related to the use of modern pesticides throughout the United States as a limiting factor for endangered species conservation and recovery. This work is currently supporting several national ESA Biological Opinions, and is under review by the National Academy of Sciences. The NAS panel recommendations are expected in the summer of 2013, and these will guide additional research in FY14 and beyond. Behavioral observations and video of salmonids following exposure to pesticides.

Our research used a combination of laboratory-based acute aqueous metals exposures and RNA-sequencing technologies to identify a gene-based means to extrapolate metals toxicity across a range of fish taxa. For Phase 1 of our project, we compared transcriptome changes in caudal fin, gill and liver of juvenile Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed to cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), or zinc (Zn) at 17, or 50% of LC50 concentrations for 24 and 96 hours to controls. These experiments allowed us to test for conserved responses to the metal exposures, and to test which metal produced the most coherent gene expression profile indicative of a defined mode of action. During Phase 2, we exposed juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) to the selected metal (Zn) to begin to ascertain the extent to which the mode of action identified was conserved among salmonids.

Attributes regarding the effects of copper exposure on larval white sturgeon swimming and feeding behaviors and time to response.

Each year, a number of seafood samples are exported from the US to Europe, including edible tissues collected from high trophic level marine fish species such as dogfish. Obtaining information on concentrations of potentially toxic environmental contaminants [e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury] in these samples is important to ensure that these export products are safe for human consumption. As part of a pilot study, edible tissues (back and belly muscle) of spiny and smooth dogfish collected during fleet study and dockside surveillance operations in the Northeast Region of the US were analyzed at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center for a suite of persistent organic pollutants including PCBs, DDTs and other chlorinated pesticides to determine the influence of biological factors (e.g., length, sex) and geographical collection region on contaminant levels. Persistent organic pollutants, stable isotopes, and lipids in smooth and spiny dogfish from the northwestern Atlantic.

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.

This dataset characterizes the acute toxicity of copper and zinc to white sturgeon (~30 days post hatch) and cladocerans (less thab 24 hours old) in waters with varying dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by conducting 96-hour white sturgeon and 48-hour cladoceran copper and zinc exposures in test waters with natural DOC (from pond water) at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 mg/L.