scholarly journals RISK OF WEATHERED RESIDUAL EXXON VALDEZ OIL TO PINK SALMON EMBRYOS IN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND

2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest L. Brannon ◽  
Keya M. Collins ◽  
Mathew A. Cronin ◽  
Lawrence L. Moulton ◽  
Keith R. Parker ◽  
...  
PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. A72-A72

When the Exxon Valdez hit the rocks of Prince William Sound last year, there were predictions of a near-apocalypse for Alaska's salmon industry. Well, this year's salmon catch is coming to an end and it turns out it will be the biggest in history... So far, the Washington Post reports that 40 million salmon have been caught, far outstripping the 1987 record harvest of 29 million. Many of the salmon were hatched last spring in the very waters fouled by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The rest were released from hatcheries in Prince William Sound and swam through the same waters on their way to the ocean. At the largest hatchery in the area, the number of pink salmon returning to the sound this summer was double the average of recent years. Last year's oil spill apparently had little effect on the growth of plankton in the sound, the main source of food for young salmon. Salmon hatcheries report plankton growth was better than ever this year.


1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (1) ◽  
pp. 1025-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan W. Maki ◽  
Ernest Brannon ◽  
Jerry M. Neff ◽  
Walter D. Pearson ◽  
William A. Stubblefield

ABSTRACT Ecological risk assessment principles are basic to the assessment of environmental injury during the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) process; however, what is sought is quantified injury, rather than quantified risk, to valued ecosystem components. These principles were used to develop an NRDA program for studies of injury to herring and pink salmon populations in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Overall, exposures and subsequent effects of the spill on herring and salmon were minimal and post-spill harvests of the year's classes that were at greatest risk of spill injury were at or near record levels.


2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 955-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara E. Miller ◽  
Milo Adkison ◽  
Lewis Haldorson

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.


The Condor ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Irons ◽  
Steven J. Kendall ◽  
Wallace P. Erickson ◽  
Lyman L. McDonald ◽  
Brian K. Lance

Abstract We compared post Exxon Valdez oil-spill densities of marine birds in Prince William Sound from 1989–1991, 1993, 1996, and 1998 to pre-spill densities from 1984–1985. Post-spill densities of several species of marine birds were lower than expected in the oiled area of Prince William Sound when compared to densities in the unoiled area. These negative effects continued through 1998 for five taxa: cormorants, goldeneyes, mergansers, Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba), and murres. Black Oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) and Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) exhibited negative effects in 1990 and 1991. Loons showed a weak negative effect in 1993. Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) showed relative decreases in 1989, 1996, and 1998 which may have been caused by shifts in foraging distribution rather than declines in populations. Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens) showed positive effects in most post-spill years. Murrelets and terns showed relative increases in 1993, 1996, and 1998. Generally, taxa that dive for their food were negatively affected, whereas taxa that feed at the surface were not. Effects for some taxa were dependent upon the spatial scale at which they were analyzed. Movements of birds and the mosaic pattern of oiling reduced our ability to detect oil-spill effects, therefore our results may be conservative. Several marine bird species were negatively affected at the population level and have not recovered to pre-spill levels nine years after the oil spill. The reason for lack of recovery may be related to persistent oil remaining in the environment and reduced forage fish abundance.


1995 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 137-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Wolfe ◽  
K. John Scott ◽  
John R. Clayton ◽  
John Lunz ◽  
James R. Payne ◽  
...  

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