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Puget Sound fish monitored for contaminants
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Fish are an important component of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW)Toxics in Biota Program, part of the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP). Since 1989 fish indicator species have been used to monitor contamination of Puget Sound by chemicals such as poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, and metals. Geographical characteristics making Puget Sound especially susceptible to contaminants include funneling of fish through narrow inlets, restricted exchange of water, shallow sea floor sills, and freshwater inputs from urban sources. Species used for monitoring by WDWF as of 2015 include English sole, copper rockfish, quillback rockfish, brown rockfish, Coho salmon, Pacific herring, Pacific staghorn sculpin, and Chinook salmon. Methods used to measure exposure and effects from these contaminants include bioaccumulation in tissue and bile, liver lesions, endocrine disruption in male fish, and abundance of fish populations. The three types of studies performed by Fish and Wildlife examine changes in contaminant exposure over time, their spatial distribution, and the effects of exposure on each species of fish. These data are also used to issue human health advisories on the consumption of fish in Puget Sound based on Department of Health recommendations.
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