Farm-raised shrimp: good aquacultural practices for product quality and safety

(PDF has 75 pages)

Water quality and harmful algae in Southeastern coastal stormwater ponds

Several long-term monitoring studies describing the water quality and biological condition of Southeastern estuaries (National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment Project, South Carolina Estuarine and Coastal Assessment Program (SCECAP), Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), South Carolina Harmful Algal Bloom Program (SCHAB), South Carolina Tidal Creek Project, and others) have been developed. Many of the same water quality issues determined for open estuaries are also found in coastal stormwater ponds, and there are important interactions between the man-made ponds and the natural systems. Researchers have highlighted problems such as nutrient eutrophication, bacterial and chemical contamination, hypoxia, and harmful algal blooms (HABs). This technical memorandum summarizes the state-of-the-knowledge of water quality indicators (dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and chlorophyll a), and harmful algae in Southeastern coastal stormwater ponds. (PDF contains 31 pages)

1979 Ecological study of fishes and the water quality characteristics of Florida Bay, Everglades National Park, Florida

Fish collections under varying ecological conditions were made by trawling and seining, monthly and quarterly in depths of <1 m to depths of 3 m of the Florida Bay portion of Everglades National Park, Florida. From May 1973 through September 1976, a total of 182,530 fishes representing 128 species and 50 families were taken at 27 stations. An additional 21 species were identified from sportfish-creel surveys and supplemental observations. Most of the species collected were juveniles of species that occur as adults in the Florida Bay creel census survey, or were small species that were seasonal residents. Marked temporal and spatial abundance of the catches was observed. The greatest numbers and biomass of the fishes occurred in the wet season (summer/fall), whereas lowest numbers and biomass appeared during the dry season (winter/spring) The greatest abundance and diversity of fishes was found in western Florida Bay followed by eastern and central Bay regions respectively. Overall, five species comprised 75% of the numerical total while eleven species made up 75% of the total biomass. Collections were dominated numerically by anchovies (Engraulidae), especially Anchoa mitchilli, in western Florida Bay. Mojarras (Gerridae), mostly silver jenny Eucinostomus gula, and porgies (Sparidae), especially pinfish Lagodon rhomboides, dominated numerically in central and eastern portions of the Bay, respectively. Except for salinity, other measured physico-chemical parameters (water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity) showed no variation beyond ranges considered normal for shallow, tropical marine environments. Salinity varied from 0 to 66 ppt near the mainland. Nearshore hypersaline conditions (>45 ppt) persisted for nearly 2 years during the 1974 - 1975 severe drought period. Significant reductions in fish abundance/diversity were observed in relation to hypersaline conditions. Bay-wide macrobenthic communities were mapped (presence/absence) and were primarily comprised of turtle grass (Thalassia), shoalgrass [(Diplanthera = (Halodule)], and/or green algae Penicillus. Seasonal dieoff of seagrasses was observed in north-central Florida Bay. (PDF contains 107 pages)

Sediment Quality in Puget Sound Year 3 - Southern Puget Sound

As a component of a three-year cooperative effort of the Washington State Department of Ecology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, surficial sediment samples from 100 locations in southern Puget Sound were collected in 1999 to determine their relative quality based on measures of toxicity, chemical contamination, and benthic infaunal assemblage structure. The survey encompassed an area of approximately 858 km2, ranging from East and Colvos Passages south to Oakland Bay, and including Hood Canal. Toxic responses were most severe in some of the industrialized waterways of Tacoma’s Commencement Bay. Other industrialized harbors in which sediments induced toxic responses on smaller scales included the Port of Olympia, Oakland Bay at Shelton, Gig Harbor, Port Ludlow, and Port Gamble. Based on the methods selected for this survey, the spatial extent of toxicity for the southern Puget Sound survey area was 0% of the total survey area for amphipod survival, 5.7% for urchin fertilization, 0.2% for microbial bioluminescence, and 5- 38% with the cytochrome P450 HRGS assay. Measurements of trace metals, PAHs, PCBs, chlorinated pesticides, other organic chemicals, and other characteristics of the sediments, indicated that 20 of the 100 samples collected had one or more chemical concentrations that exceeded applicable, effects-based sediment guidelines and/or Washington State standards. Chemical contamination was highest in eight samples collected in or near the industrialized waterways of Commencement Bay. Samples from the Thea Foss and Middle Waterways were primarily contaminated with a mixture of PAHs and trace metals, whereas those from Hylebos Waterway were contaminated with chlorinated organic hydrocarbons. The remaining 12 samples with elevated chemical concentrations primarily had high levels of other chemicals, including bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, and phenol. The characteristics of benthic infaunal assemblages in south Puget Sound differed considerably among locations and habitat types throughout the study area. In general, many of the small embayments and inlets throughout the study area had infaunal assemblages with relatively low total abundance, taxa richness, evenness, and dominance values, although total abundance values were very high in some cases, typically due to high abundance of one organism such as the polychaete Aphelochaeta sp. N1. The majority of the samples collected from passages, outer embayments, and larger bodies of water tended to have infaunal assemblages with higher total abundance, taxa richness, evenness, and dominance values. Two samples collected in the Port of Olympia near a superfund cleanup site had no living organisms in them. A weight-of-evidence approach used to simultaneously examine all three “sediment quality triad” parameters, identified 11 stations (representing 4.4 km2, 0.5% of the total study area) with sediment toxicity, chemical contamination, and altered benthos (i.e., degraded sediment quality), 36 stations (493.5 km2, 57.5% total study area) with no toxicity or chemical contamination (i.e., high sediment quality), 35 stations (274.1 km2, 32.0% total study area) with one impaired sediment triad parameter (i.e., intermediate/high sediment quality), and 18 stations (85.7km2, 10.0% total study area) with two impaired sediment parameters (i.e., intermediate/degraded quality sediments). Generally, upon comparison, the number of stations with degraded sediments based upon the sediment quality triad of data was slightly greater in the central Puget Sound than in the northern and southern Puget Sound study areas, with the percent of the total study area degraded in each region decreasing from central to north to south (2.8, 1.3 and 0.5%, respectively). Overall, the sediments collected in Puget Sound during the combined 1997-1999 surveys were among the least contaminated relative to other marine bays and estuaries studied by NOAA using equivalent methods. (PDF contains 351 pages)

Survey of sediment quality in Sabine Lake, Texas and vicinity

The toxicity of sediments in Sabine Lake, Texas, and adjoining Intracoastal Waterway canals was determined as part of bioeffects assessment studies managed by NOAA’s National Status and Trends Program. The objectives of the survey were to determine: (1) the incidence and degree of toxicity of sediments throughout the study area; (2) the spatial patterns (or gradients) in chemical contamination and toxicity, if any, throughout the study area; (3) the spatial extent of chemical contamination and toxicity; and (4) the statistical relationships between measures of toxicity and concentrations of chemicals in the sediments. Surficial sediment samples were collected during August, 1995 from 66 randomly-chosen locations. Laboratory toxicity tests were performed as indicators of potential ecotoxicological effects in sediments. A battery of tests was performed to generate information from different phases (components) of the sediments. Tests were selected to represent a range in toxicological endpoints from acute to chronic sublethal responses. Toxicological tests were conducted to measure: reduced survival of adult amphipods exposed to solid-phase sediments; impaired fertilization success and abnormal morphological development in gametes and embryos, respectively, of sea urchins exposed to pore waters; reduced metabolic activity of a marine bioluminescent bacteria exposed to organic solvent extracts; and induction of a cytochrome P-450 reporter gene system in exposures to solvent extracts of the sediments. Chemical analyses were performed on portions of each sample to quantify the concentrations of trace metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and chlorinated organic compounds. Correlation analyses were conducted to determine the relationships between measures of toxicity and concentrations of potentially toxic substances in the samples. Based upon the compilation of results from chemical analyses and toxicity tests, the quality of sediments in Sabine Lake and vicinity did not appear to be severely degraded. Chemical concentrations rarely exceeded effects-based numerical guidelines, suggesting that toxicant-induced effects would not be expected in most areas. None of the samples was highly toxic in acute amphipod survival tests and a minority (23%) of samples were highly toxic in sublethal urchin fertilization tests. Although toxic responses occurred frequently (94% of samples) in urchin embryo development tests performed with 100% pore waters, toxicity diminished markedly in tests done with diluted pore waters. Microbial bioluminescent activity was not reduced to a great degree (no EC50 <0.06 mg/ml) and cytochrome P-450 activity was not highly induced (6 samples exceeded 37.1 ug/g benzo[a]pyrene equivalents) in tests done with organic solvent extracts. Urchin embryological development was highly correlated with concentrations of ammonia and many trace metals. Cytochrome P450 induction was highly correlated with concentrations of a number of classes of organic compounds (including the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and chlorinated compounds). (PDF contains 51 pages)