Carbaryl, Carbofuran, and Methomyl - National Marine Fisheries ...

coincides with relatively poor ocean habitat for most Pacific Northwest salmon
populations (IPCC 2001; CIG 2004).
We expect changing weather and oceanographic conditions may affect prey availability,
temperature and water flow in habitat conditions, and growth for all 28 ESUs.
Consequently, we expect the long-term survival and reproductive success for listed
salmonids to be greatly affected by global climate change.
Anthropogenic Mortality Factors
In this section we address anthropogenic threats in the geographic regions across the
action area. Among the threats discussed are the “four Hs”: hatcheries, harvest,
hydropower, and habitat. Prior to discussion of each geographic region, three major
issues are highlighted: pesticide contamination, elevated water temperature, and loss of
habitat/habitat connectivity. These three factors are the most relevant to the current
analysis. To address these issues, we provide information on pesticide detections in the
aquatic environment and highlight their background levels from past and ongoing
anthropogenic activities. This information is pertinent to EPA’s proposed registration of
carbaryl, carbofuran, and methomyl in the U.S. and its territories. As water temperature
plays such a strong role in salmonid distribution, we also provide a general discussion of
anthropogenic temperature changes. Finally, we discuss the health of riparian systems
and floodplain connectivity, as this habitat is vital to salmonid survival.
Baseline Pesticide Detections in Aquatic Environments
In the environmental baseline, we address pesticide detections reported as part of the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program’s (NAWQA)
national assessment (Gilliom, Barbash et al. 2006). We chose this approach for
Environmental Baseline as the NAWQA studies present the same level of analysis for
each area. Further, given the lack of reporting standards, we are unable to present a
comprehensive basin-specific analysis of detections from other sources.
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