National Benthic Surveillance Project: Northeast Coast Fish Histopathology and Relationships Between Lesions and Chemical Contaminants (1987-89)

This report presents and interprets the results of pathology studies conducted on winter flounder (Pleuronectes americanus) between 1987 and 1989 in conjunction with NOAA's National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program. In these studies, a variety of potentially contaminant- associated disease conditions were monitored in winter flounder collected from 22 Northeast Coast sites, and the relationship between disease occurrence and levels of organic chemical contaminants in sediment, stomach contents, and tissues was examined. Sampling was conducted primarily in spring of 1988 and 1989 (Cycles 5 and 6) as part of the National Benthic Surveillance Project (NBSP) of the NS&T Program, but to provide a more comprehensive view of pathological conditions in winter flounder from the Northeast Coast, data on winter flounder collected in Long Island Sound during 1987 and in Boston Harbor and adjacent embayments during the winter of 1988 were also included in this memorandum. In the three studies combined, a total of more than 1,500 fish were examined. 1992 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) NWFSC (Northwest Fisheries Science Center) Library Public Domain 1861