EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Restoration Project: Effects of Oiled Incubation Substrate on Survival and Straying of Wild Pink Salmon. Restoration Project 98076. Final Report.

摘要

The objectives of this project were to determine the effect of exposure of pink salmon embryos to weathered crude oil on subsequent marine growth and survival, and to examine the effect of oil exposure and other factors on the straying behavior of pink salmon. The project relied on extensive marking on pink salmon fry from controlled exposure groups and from wild stocks: a total of 478,749 fry were marked and released at the tagging sties in 1996. Treatment groups were incubated in oiled gravel simulating conditions in contaminated streams in Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, resulting in initial aqueous exposures for total polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons of <5.2 and <19.4 parts per billion (ppb) for a low and high dose, respectively. Control fish were incubated in gravel without oil. Superficially healthy fry were marked by removing the adipose fin and inserting coded-wire tags as they emigrated to seawater. To examine the effect of coded-wire tags on survival and straying, some pin salmon fry from the control incubators and from the upstream spawning stock were marked by removing the adipose fin and a pelvic fin.