Resolving allegations of oil damage to incubating pink salmon eggs in Prince William Sound

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1070-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest L Brannon ◽  
Keya CM Collins ◽  
Lawrence L Moulton ◽  
Keith R Parker
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Time Sampling ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Pink Salmon Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Salmon Eggs ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Oil Exposure

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council concluded that oil caused mortality of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) eggs in Prince William Sound streams. Their conclusion was based primarily on Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) studies which reported that mean mortality of embryos in eggs was higher in oiled than non-oiled streams when sampled shortly after spawning completion. However, developing embryos are vulnerable to shock mortality for a period of 20 days after fertilization, and the embryos in eggs from the latest spawners were still in the sensitive period at the time sampling took place. We argue that the original ADF&G analysis should have included sample timing in statistical comparisons of mortality between streams. Analysis of a subset of the ADF&G data showed that sampling shock was a major source of embryo mortality in these samples, and that source of mortality in the original survey would likely have been mistakenly interpreted as an oiling effect. Compensating for sample timing removed all statistical evidence for an oiling effect in the data subset. We conclude that the ADF&G study design confounded the ability to assess for the effect of oil exposure on pink salmon eggs.

Relationship of water column stability to the growth, condition, and survival of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in the northern coastal Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 955-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara E. Miller ◽  
Milo Adkison ◽  
Lewis Haldorson
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Growth Condition ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Biological Parameters ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Pink Salmon Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Fish Condition ◽  
Water Column Stability

Water column stability has been hypothesized to affect growth and ultimately survival of juvenile fish. We estimated the relationships between stability and the growth, condition, and marine survival of several stocks of pink salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha ) within Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, USA, and the northern coastal Gulf of Alaska (GOA) shelf. There was a stronger correlation among the biological parameters of the fish than between the biological parameters and physical conditions. While stability and fish condition during early marine residence in PWS were important to year-class survival, stability of the water column that juveniles experienced as they migrated to the open waters of the GOA did not play a key role in determining survival to adulthood. Below-average stability just prior to capture within PWS combined with positive fish condition was related to increased year-class survival. Our results are similar to previous studies that concluded that slower and weaker development of stratification with a deeper mixed layer depth may be important for juvenile pink salmon survival in PWS.

Review of Studies on Oil Damage To Prince William Sound Pink Salmon

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (1) ◽  
pp. 569-575
Author(s):  
Ernest Brannon ◽  
Keya Collins ◽  
Lawrence Moulton ◽  
Keith R. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Measurable Effect ◽  
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽  
Differences Of Opinion ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oil Exposure

ABSTRACT In the tenth year following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, differences of opinion still exist about injuries to pink salmon. It was alleged that exposure to oil reduced growth of fry and induced mortality in eggs. The authors reexamined the allegation that injury occurred and have concluded that insufficient consideration was given to other factors that affected results in the studies from which these allegations were drawn. The inability to track temperature differences and the unknown ages of fry precluded assessment of oil effects on growth during early marine residence. Reported higher egg mortality and long-term injury alleged to have resulted from oil exposure during incubation were confounded by the mortality of eggs that occurred as an artifact of the sampling procedure, unrelated to oil effects. The authors concluded that injury to incubating pink salmon embryos and reduced fry growth were based on an incomplete assessment of other factors that influenced these results. This evidence is supported by other research that has disclosed no oil effects on incubating eggs. Among these were studies that showed measured oil concentrations reaching the incubation substrate were 14 to 7,600 times below the lethal threshold. The seven largest runs in the history of Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska have returned in the 10 years following the spill, which ultimately demonstrated the lack of measurable effect of the oil spill on pink salmon. The authors suggest that the allegation of oil-induced injury to PWS pink salmon needs to be reconsidered in light of these analyses.

Results for Three Generations from Transfers of Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) Spawn to the Qualicum River in 1963 and 1964

1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 647-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Walker ◽  
D. B. Lister
Keyword(s):  
Chum Salmon ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Stream Temperature ◽  
Rate Of Return ◽  
Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Pink Salmon Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Salmon Eggs ◽  
Bear River

Transfers of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) eggs were made to the Qualicum River in two years, utilizing 5.79 million eggs from Cheakamus River stock in 1963 and 6.85 million eggs from Bear River stock in 1964. Adult returns to the Qualicum River were 100 spawners in 1965, 1967, and 1969; 11,940 in 1966; 3000 in 1968; and 300 in 1970. Differences between the odd- and even-year plants were noted in times of egg-take (equivalent to time of spawning of donor stock), incubation, and fry emigration, lengths of emigrating fry, possibility of losses through predation by herring on estuarine fry, and direction of orientation to the recipient (Qualicum River) stream. Pronounced differences between donor stock in rate of return are thought to be primarily related to differences in spawning times and stream temperature. The decrease in numbers of adults in the even-year generation may have been due to lower freshwater survival during incubation as a result of suspected superimposition of chum salmon on the earlier deposited pink salmon eggs; the loss was estimated to be in the order of 46%.

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