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Potential Effects of Contaminants on Fraser River Sockeye Salmon

Potential Effects of Contaminants on Fraser River Sockeye Salmon

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It is unlikely that c<strong>on</strong>venti<strong>on</strong>al bioassay-type <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> toxicity testing will be sufficientlysensitive to detect sub-lethal effects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> individual c<strong>on</strong>taminants <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>cern,combinati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>taminants <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>cern, emerging c<strong>on</strong>taminants and endocrinedisrupting substances. It will likely be necessary to adopt new toxicogenomictechniques to understand and evaluate the effects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> sub-lethal c<strong>on</strong>taminants.Resp<strong>on</strong>se: Agree. The report has be revised in several places to reflect thisimportant perspective.5. What informati<strong>on</strong>, if any, should be collected in the future to improve ourunderstanding <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this subject area?Informati<strong>on</strong> that should be collected in the future to improve our understanding <strong>on</strong> thepotential effects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>taminants <strong>on</strong> <strong>Fraser</strong> <strong>River</strong> sockeye salm<strong>on</strong> is as follows:1. Obtain the informati<strong>on</strong> to fill in missing effluent discharge data gaps <strong>on</strong>industries that were not available for this report (e.g., wood preservative (Table3.4), seafood processing (Table 3.6) and most major mining operati<strong>on</strong>s (Table3.7)), and determine if the type and volume <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> effluents discharged couldc<strong>on</strong>tribute to the 20 year decline in stock productivity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>Fraser</strong> <strong>River</strong> sockeye;Resp<strong>on</strong>se: Agree. This suggesti<strong>on</strong> was added to the recommendati<strong>on</strong>s listedin Chapter 8 <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the report.2. As previously indicated, the emerging view is that newer and more sensitivetests are required to detect sub-lethal effects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> various known and emergingc<strong>on</strong>taminants and endocrine disrupting substances, either individually, or invarious combinati<strong>on</strong>s. This is the new field <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> toxicogenomics.<str<strong>on</strong>g>Effects</str<strong>on</strong>g> happen at the molecular or genomic level and may not manifestthemselves until adulthood or through some other subtle effects.C<strong>on</strong>venti<strong>on</strong>al aquatic toxicological testing endpoint measurements are notsensitive enough to measure effects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> EDCs. The <strong>on</strong>ly way to do this is to lookat the effect <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> various sub-lethal c<strong>on</strong>taminants <strong>on</strong> the expressi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> genes:A-13

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