Event Title
Presentation Abstract
Localized oil spills that contaminate nearshore spawning areas pose a threat to developing Pacific herring embryos. Fish embryos are particularly susceptible to the developmental toxicity of oil derived PAHs, which can be acutely lethal or, at lower exposure doses, lead to permanent changes in heart structure, craniofacial morphology, and metabolic processes that cause delayed mortality, or more subtle delayed impacts that may be associated with premature subadult mortality. A variety of localized oil spill scenarios simulating direct and delayed mortality to young of the year were used to examine the potential response of Puget Sound stocks. The healthy stocks remaining in Puget Sound could withstand short term impacts, but the growing number of depressed and unhealthy stocks are vulnerable to an increased risk of localized extinction. Model output predicted that for short term, low level impacts the stock abundance did not exceed the natural variability observed in the population demographic data. This indicates a limited ability to observe in the field any predictions made by the model. High mortality in a single year or impacts across multiple year classes may cause stock abundance changes that exceed natural variability. Despite this, the model does indicate the magnitude of impact on the intrinsic growth rate that could reduce productivity of affected stocks. Additional toxic endpoints and effects thresholds are currently being investigated, including sublethal impacts on cardiac function, immune function, and lipid metabolism that may all lead to delayed mortality. Characterizing these adverse outcome pathways may alter predicted impacts of oil spills on herring stocks.
Session Title
Modeling the Effects of Pesticides, Toxicants, and Multiple Stressors on the Fish Populations and Ecological Communities of the Salish Sea
Keywords
Oil spill, Population model, Herring stocks
Conference Track
SSE3: Fate, Transport, and Toxicity of Chemicals
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE3-619
Start Date
5-4-2018 10:15 AM
End Date
5-4-2018 10:30 AM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Pacific herring--Effect of oil spills on--Washington (State)--Puget Sound
Geographic Coverage
Puget Sound (Wash.); Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Modeling potential population-level impacts of localized oil spills on Puget Sound Pacific herring stocks
Localized oil spills that contaminate nearshore spawning areas pose a threat to developing Pacific herring embryos. Fish embryos are particularly susceptible to the developmental toxicity of oil derived PAHs, which can be acutely lethal or, at lower exposure doses, lead to permanent changes in heart structure, craniofacial morphology, and metabolic processes that cause delayed mortality, or more subtle delayed impacts that may be associated with premature subadult mortality. A variety of localized oil spill scenarios simulating direct and delayed mortality to young of the year were used to examine the potential response of Puget Sound stocks. The healthy stocks remaining in Puget Sound could withstand short term impacts, but the growing number of depressed and unhealthy stocks are vulnerable to an increased risk of localized extinction. Model output predicted that for short term, low level impacts the stock abundance did not exceed the natural variability observed in the population demographic data. This indicates a limited ability to observe in the field any predictions made by the model. High mortality in a single year or impacts across multiple year classes may cause stock abundance changes that exceed natural variability. Despite this, the model does indicate the magnitude of impact on the intrinsic growth rate that could reduce productivity of affected stocks. Additional toxic endpoints and effects thresholds are currently being investigated, including sublethal impacts on cardiac function, immune function, and lipid metabolism that may all lead to delayed mortality. Characterizing these adverse outcome pathways may alter predicted impacts of oil spills on herring stocks.
