|
|
PCB’S EFFECTS ON THE STRIPED
BASS POPULATION
By Erica Hoff
Striped Bass are thriving in spite of the toxins in their ecosystem.
The dredging of the Hudson River for PCB’s (polychlorinated biphenyls) will be starting a year later than expected in 2006 instead of 2005. However, the striped bass season opened on time last month.
The fishing for stripers has been going on for years with PCB’s in the river. According to the EPA, there are more stripers in the river now than there have been in decades. Millions of these fish migrate up the river in millions to spawn. It seems as if PCB’s are beneficial to the population, but this is not the case.
Dr. Adria Elskus, an assistant professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Kentucky, has done research on the effects of various pollutants on fish.
“PCB’s and other chlorinated substances like dioxin can hurt the ability of fish to reproduce, affect hormones, decrease the chances of survival for the offspring and cause skeletal deformities and devastating defects in heart development,” said Dr. Elskus.
Dr. Thomas Lynch, associate professor of environmental science at Marist College, said there is no documented evidence that shows striped bass have suffered as a result of PCB’s.
“The biggest concern is the effects of PCB’s on humans,“ said Dr. Lynch. “People in down river communities fish from banks and feed the fish to their families and relatives. They are usually from a lower socioeconomic status and use the fish as a means for putting food on the table.”
Fishing pressure may cause the rising and falling of fish populations. Restricted fishing has reduced that pressure on Hudson River stripers. The changes in the regulations were encouraged partly by the health risk to people of the PCB’s that accumulate in the fat of fish, and partly by a general decline in striper populations.
Sport anglers can keep one striper a day in the river above the bridge, but some do not follow the catch and release guidelines, said Dr. Lynch.
“Sports fisherman keep what they catch regardless of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recommendations which include: men should not eat more than one fish meal a month and young women, especially those who are pregnant, should avoid eating fish from the Hudson River altogether,” said Dr. Lynch. “Studies have shown that mothers who eat the fish have low birth weight babies or developmental mental and physical retardation.”
PCB’s affect all sorts of life not just fish. Other organisms eat striped bass such as seals, otters, reptiles and waterfowl and can accumulate PCBs. Scientists continue to look at the effects after the chemicals are no longer being dumped and after decades of struggle to clean up the Hudson of it’s pollutants.
Exactly how the fish resist the effects of these poisons is not known. Scientists do research similar to Dr. Elskus and are trying to figure out these effects. “The resistance seems to have to do with the activity of enzyme that breaks down pollutants, releasing damaging toxins,” said Dr. Elskus.