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.

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.

HERRING PARASITE AND TISSUE ALTERATIONS FOLLOWING THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 325-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam D. Moles ◽  
Stanley D. Rice ◽  
Mark S. Okihiro
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Exxon Valdez ◽  
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽  
Tissue Alteration ◽  
Oil Exposure

ABSTRACT We examined the intensity and prevalence of larval nematodes (Anisakis simplex,) and alterations in selected tissues of spawning Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) exposed to crude oil, in the laboratory under controlled conditions and in Prince William Sound 14 days after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In the laboratory, intensity and prevalence of nematodes in the body cavities of herring exposed to the water-soluble fraction of oil declined when exposed to doses above 1.2 mg/L total aromatics. In Prince William Sound, nematodes were rare in spawning herring from oiled sites and abundant among herring from areas outside the spill. Oil exposure apparently induced the nematodes to migrate from the body cavity to the body wall with the lower intensity reflecting a change in parasite location. A coccidian Eimeria clupearum was found in greater numbers in oil exposed herring. To verify exposure effects and to link parasite and tissue alteration with oil exposure, histological examination was used. Liver coagulative necrosis indicated hepatotoxic exposure. Necrosis was followed by macrophage aggregation in the resolution phase. The laboratory exposures allowed confirmation of oil exposure in Prince William Sound and permitted analysis of effects on two internal parasites.

SALMON SURVIVE OIL SPILL

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. A72-A72
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
Exxon Valdez ◽  
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽  
Better Than

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.

Histopathology and cytogenetic evaluation of Pacific herring larvae exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons in the laboratory or in Prince William Sound, Alaska, after the Exxon Valdez oil spill

1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1846-1857 ◽  
Author(s):  
G D Marty ◽  
J E Hose ◽  
M D McGurk ◽  
E D Brown ◽  
D E Hinton
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Exxon Valdez ◽  
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽  
Clupea Pallasi ◽  
Vacuolar Change ◽  
Pericardial Edema ◽  
Oil Exposure ◽  
Prudhoe Bay

Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA, Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) larvae sampled from oiled sites had ascites, pericardial edema, and genotoxic damage. Laboratory study confirmed that these lesions were consistent with oil exposure. Pacific herring larvae were trawled from two oiled and two unoiled sites in Prince William Sound in May 1989. Larvae from oiled sites were shorter, had ingested less food, had slower growth (oiled, 0.07-0.10 mm/day; unoiled, 0.15-0.18 mm/day), and had higher prevalence of cytogenetic damage (oiled, 56-84%; unoiled, 32-40%) and ascites (oiled, 16%; unoiled, 1%) than from unoiled sites. In the laboratory experiment, Pacific herring eggs were exposed to an oil-water dispersion of Prudhoe Bay crude oil (initial concentrations of 0.0, 0.10, 0.24, 0.48, and 2.41 mg/L) and sampled for histopathology <24 h after hatching. Effects were significant at the 0.48 mg/L dose (Dunnett's procedure, P < 0.05). Lesions included ascites; hepatocellular vacuolar change; and degeneration or necrosis of skeletal myocytes, retinal cells, and developing brain cells. Lesions in field-sampled larvae were consistent with higher mortality rates documented in larvae from oiled sites.

APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT PRINCIPLES TO NATURAL RESOURCES DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (1) ◽  
pp. 1025-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan W. Maki ◽  
Ernest Brannon ◽  
Jerry M. Neff ◽  
Walter D. Pearson ◽  
William A. Stubblefield
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Ecological Risk ◽  
Ecological Risk Assessment ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Exxon Valdez ◽  
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

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.

scholarly journals Nine Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Effects on Marine Bird Populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska

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
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Exxon Valdez ◽  
Marine Bird ◽  
Marine Birds ◽  
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽  
Positive Effects

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.

Comparative Toxicities of Polar and Non-Polar Organic Fractions From Sediments Affected By the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska

1995 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 137-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Wolfe ◽  
K. John Scott ◽  
John R. Clayton ◽  
John Lunz ◽  
James R. Payne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Exxon Valdez ◽  
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽  
Organic Fractions
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