High mercury bioaccumulation in Pacific salmons from the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea

摘要

Mercury (Hg) accumulation in fishes is a serious threat for food security because mercury induces dieseases. Here we studied the total mercury content in four species of Pacific salmon (pink, chum, sockeye and chinook), caught in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, and the Kuril oceanic waters. Results show that the lowest concentration of mercury was found in the pink salmon, and the highest was 5-6 times higher in sockeye. Hg concentrations exceed several times those in other species of Pacific salmon from the North Pacific.