Fish Injury in the Hylebos Waterway of Commencement Bay, Washington

Beginning in the mid-1970s, studies by the Environmental Conservation Division of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center had shown that there was a strong relationship between chemical contaminants in sediments, and increased prevalences of liver disease, including cancer, in bottomfish in Puget Sound. In the mid-1980s, these studies were extended to show that bottomfish from contaminated areas also were experiencing a wide range of reproductive impairment, including failure to develop eggs, failure to spawn, lowered egg fertility, and lowered production of normal larvae. Also beginning in the mid-1980s, studies of juvenile salmon in urban waterways of Puget Sound began to show that these fish were accumulating contaminants as they made their passage from freshwater to saltwater, and this contaminant exposure was linked to impaired immune function and reduced growth, which are key elements involved in the early ocean survival of salmon. 1998 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) NWFSC (Northwest Fisheries Science Center) Library Public Domain 1861