Potential Effects of Contaminants on Fraser River Sockeye Salmon

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exposure <strong>of</strong> sockeye salmon to elevated levels <strong>of</strong> TSS and turbidity, a factorthat has been shown to be important for accurately predicting effects onsalmonid fishes (Newcombe and MacDonald 1991). As a result, furtherinvestigations are needed to fully evaluate the potential effects <strong>of</strong> TSS andturbidity on sockeye salmon in the watershed;• Total phosphorus levels were elevated in incubation, rearing and migrationhabitats in the study area. However, it is unlikely that exposure to elevatedlevels <strong>of</strong> phosphorus would result in direct effects on sockeye salmon. Morelikely, elevated phosphorus levels would translate into higher primary and,likely secondary productivity (i.e., increased growth <strong>of</strong> algae andinvertebrates), which is generally beneficial for sockeye salmon (provided thatoxygen levels remain acceptable and gas supersaturation does not becomeproblematic). In addition, total phosphorus does not always provide a reliableindicator <strong>of</strong> the amount <strong>of</strong> phosphorus that is available to plants (i.e., solublereactive phosphorus and dissolved phosphorus are <strong>of</strong>ten better indicators <strong>of</strong> thebiologically-available fraction). Therefore, further investigations are needed t<strong>of</strong>ully evaluate the potential effects <strong>of</strong> elevated phosphorus levels on sockeyesalmon in the watershed.• Total metal levels were also elevated in spawning and incubation, rearing, andmigration habitats throughout much <strong>of</strong> the study area. However, examination<strong>of</strong> the underlying data indicate that at least some <strong>of</strong> the results were likelyaffected by contamination during sample collection, sample handling, or sampletransport. Although procedures were implemented to identify and removeoutliers from the data sets used in this evaluation, hazard quotients based onththe 95 percentile concentrations may overestimate risks to sockeye salmonassociated with exposure to metals, particularly for cadmium, chromium, andmercury. In addition, measurements <strong>of</strong> total concentrations may not reflect thebiologically-available metal fraction, especially when TSS/turbidity levels areelevated in surface waters. Under such conditions, dissolved metalconcentrations provide a more reliable basis for evaluating effects associatedwith exposure to metals. All <strong>of</strong> the toxicity thresholds for metals are based onthe results <strong>of</strong> toxicity tests in which salmonid fishes were exposed to dissolvedmetals (i.e., metals were added to exposures as metallic salts; e.g., CdCl 2). Asa result, further investigations are needed to fully evaluate the potential effects<strong>of</strong> total metals on sockeye salmon in the watershed;• Levels <strong>of</strong> total mercury were elevated throughout the study area. In manyocases, the reported levels exceeded the solubility <strong>of</strong> mercury at 20 C (about65
0.05 mg/L; Glew and Hames 1971). As such results are unlikely to be reliable,they were removed from the database. Many <strong>of</strong> the remaining samples hadmercury levels that were about 1000 times the commonly reported detectionlimits <strong>of</strong> 0.02 µg/L and 0.05 µg/L. In addition, such elevated results werecommonly reported at stations that frequently had mercury levels below theanalytical detection limits. Together, these observations suggest that there maybe a problem with the underlying data (i.e., the units assigned to the resultsmay have been incorrect; however, it was not possible to confirm thishypothesis because the original data sheets were not available). Hence, cautionshould be exercised in drawing conclusions from the mercury data.Two approaches were applied to address the uncertainties associated with the evaluation<strong>of</strong> the effects <strong>of</strong> individual contaminants <strong>of</strong> concern on sockeye salmon in the Fraser RiverBasin. As a first step, the frequency <strong>of</strong> exceedance <strong>of</strong> the selected toxicity thresholds weredetermined for the pre-1990 and post-1990 period, with the understanding that exposuresto contaminants <strong>of</strong> concern would had to have increased over the past 20 years forcontaminants to have caused the recent declines in sockeye salmon abundance. However,comparison <strong>of</strong> the results for the entire watershed for the two time periods revealed thatthe frequency <strong>of</strong> exceedance <strong>of</strong> the toxicity reference values either remained the same ordecreased for all contaminants <strong>of</strong> concern (Table 5.13 to 5.17). Such patterns <strong>of</strong>decreasing or constant frequency <strong>of</strong> toxicity reference value exceedance over time werealso generally evident across all <strong>of</strong> the areas <strong>of</strong> interest. Some exceptions to this trendinclude aluminum in spawning habitats in South Thompson River Area <strong>of</strong> Interest; iron inadult upstream migration habitats in Lower Thompson River and Nechako River areas <strong>of</strong>interest; and, iron in smolt outmigration habitats in Lower Thompson Area <strong>of</strong> Interest.This information generally shows a lack <strong>of</strong> concordance between the exposure andproductivity data. Hazard quotients across the whole period <strong>of</strong> record, summarized for allhabitat types in the Fraser River Basin (Table 5.18) suggest that aluminum, cadmium,chromium, copper, iron, mercury, silver and, phenols occur in one or more habitats atconcentrations sufficient to adversely affect sockeye salmon.In the second step <strong>of</strong> this evaluation, the productivity <strong>of</strong> Fraser River sockeye salmon, as afunction <strong>of</strong> exposure to contaminants <strong>of</strong> concern, was evaluated by plotting freshwaterproductivity, post-juvenile productivity, and/or entire life-cycle productivity against waterquality index scores. If the substances explicitly accounted for in the water quality index(i.e., conventional variables, major ions, nutrients, metals, and/or phenols) have caused thedeclines <strong>of</strong> sockeye salmon over the past 20 years, then declining productivity should becorrelated with exposure to contaminants (Figure 5.2). However, the results <strong>of</strong> this66
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February 2011technical report 2<str
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thresholds), which represent lowest
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Table of ContentsE
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5.5 Summary of the
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List of TablesTabl
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Table 4.17Table 4.18Table 4.19Table
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Table 4.47Table 4.48Table 4.49Table
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Table 6.4Table 8.1Compounds for Nat
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Figure 3.17 Map of
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Figure 5.20 Late Stuart Sockeye Sal
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List of Acronyms2,
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AcknowledgementsThe authors would l
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To assist it in fulfilling this man
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• Development of
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Chapter 2 Geographic and Temporal S
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life history of th
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• Pitt River Area of</str
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Chapter 3 Inventory of</str
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Page 43 and 44: 3.1.1.2 Sawmills, Plywood Mills and
Page 45 and 46: (ENKON Environmental Ltd. 2001). Co
Page 47 and 48: Effluent toxicity was also included
Page 49 and 50: 2011 for more information on the lo
Page 51 and 52: facilities identified in Table 3.11
Page 53 and 54: Inc.), poultry processing facilitie
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Page 57 and 58: 3.1.1.11 Municipal Wastewater Treat
Page 59 and 60: • Personal care products (fragran
Page 61 and 62: with oxytetracycline, ormetoprim, a
Page 63 and 64: In summary, the contaminants that c
Page 65 and 66: insecticides, such as phorate, terb
Page 67 and 68: 3.1.2.4 Runoff fro
Page 69 and 70: the substances most amenable to lon
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Page 73 and 74: were used in the effects and exposu
Page 75 and 76: warrants further assessment to dete
Page 77 and 78: • Data collected for migration co
Page 79 and 80: Hazard quotients were calculated fo
Page 81 and 82: Many other substances have the pote
Page 83 and 84: Chapter 5 Evaluation of</st
Page 85 and 86: For surface water and sediment, the
Page 87 and 88: 3. For hardness-dependent water qua
Page 89 and 90: • 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalents
Page 91: concern by area of
Page 95 and 96: least time rearing in freshwater ha
Page 97 and 98: The results of thi
Page 99 and 100: Interest and in the South Thompson
Page 101 and 102: • Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxi
Page 103 and 104: glycoproteins, polypeptides, peptid
Page 105 and 106: In-use herbicides in the Fraser Riv
Page 107 and 108: and home wood heating; Johannessen
Page 109 and 110: Pulp and paper mills, saw mills, an
Page 111 and 112: salinity tolerance were significant
Page 113 and 114: and gonadosomatic index scores were
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Page 121 and 122: observed in saltwater gobies (Chasm
Page 123 and 124: (See Chapters 4 and 5 for further i
Page 125 and 126: emoval efficiency of</stron
Page 127 and 128: point and non-point source discharg
Page 129 and 130: Location of NatalS
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Page 135 and 136: these substances to aquatic ecosyst
Page 137 and 138: • Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs;
Page 139 and 140: chemicals of poten
Page 141 and 142: productivity data, it is apparent t
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• Sufficiency - For a cause and e
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infection by various disease agents
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magnitude, and spatial extent <stro
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potential concern were documented a
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pathways and the intensity and exte
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Chilko River, Quesnel River, Nechak
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• The majority of</strong
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7.4.6 Information on Interactive <s
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• Development of
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8.4 Preliminary Evaluation
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8.5 Evaluation of
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the low returns of
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8.9 RecommendationsThis evaluation
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Chapter 9 References CitedAdams, R.
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Braune, B., D. Muir, B. DeMarch, M.
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EIP Associates. 1997. Polychlorinat
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Gallaugher, P. and L. Wood (Eds). P
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Hinch, S.G. and E.G. Martins. 2011.
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Kemble, N.E., D.K. Hardesty, C.G. I
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MacLatchy, D., L. Peters, J. Nickle
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Milston, R.H., M.S. Fitzpatrick, A.
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Peterman, R.M., D. Marmorek, B. Bec
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Smith, D.B., R.A. Zielinski, H.E. T
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USACE (U.S. Army Corps of</
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Walker, M.K., J.M. Spitsbergen, J.R
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Table 2.1. Overview of</str
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Table 2.2. Sampling sites for Early
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Table 2.3. Sampling sites for summe
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Table 2.4. Sampling sites for river
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Table 3.1. Listing of</stro
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Table 3.2. Chemicals of</st
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Table 3.8. Major pipelines transpor
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Table 3.10. Locations of</s
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Table 3.11. Listing of</str
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Table 3.16. List of</strong
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Table 3.17. List of</strong
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Table 3.18. Location of</st
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Table 3.20. Summary of</str
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Table 3.23. Estimated annual contam
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Table 3.28. Inventory of</s
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Table 4.1. Selected toxicity screen
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Table 4.2. Selected toxicity screen
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Table 4.3. Summary of</stro
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Table 4.19. Evaluation of</
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Table 4.32. Frequency of</s
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Table 4.53. Identification
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Table 5.1. Selected toxicity refere
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Table 5.2. Selected toxicity refere
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Table 5.3. Exposure point concentra
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Table 5.9. Hazard quotients <strong
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Table 5.11. Hazard quotients <stron
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Table 5.19. Hazard quotients <stron
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Table 5.23. Mean concentrations <st
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Table 6.2. Effects
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Table 6.3. Field studies of
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Table 6.4. Compounds for National r
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Table 8.1. Inventory of</st
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Figures
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Figure 5.1. Water Quality Index sco
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Figure 5.3. Fraser River Sockeye Sa
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Figure 5.5. Pitt Sockeye Salmon Pro
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Figure 5.7. Weaver Sockeye Salmon P
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Figure 5.9. Cultus Sockeye Salmon P
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Figure 5.11. Portage Sockeye Salmon
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Figure 5.13. Fennell Sockeye Salmon
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Figure 5.15. Late Shuswap Sockeye S
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Figure 5.17. Chilko Sockeye Salmon
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Figure 5.19. Early Stuart Sockeye S
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Figure 5.21. Stellako Sockeye Salmo
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Figure 5.23. Bowron Sockeye Salmon
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Appendices
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SW4 Deliverables4.1 The Contractor
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obtained on one species, sometimes
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• For substances for which the se
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WeaknessesThere is a lot of
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Pg 110 Ln 4189 - now called Listene
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the potential effects of</s
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A-14
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4. Fish processing plants are fewer
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Appendix 3. Environmental Data Sour
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4. Keyword searches for water quali
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A3.5 Contaminant Spill ReportsData
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River Pulp, Kamloops Cellulose Fibr
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Table A3.1. Water quality stations
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Table A3.1. Water quality stations
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Appendix 4. Data Treatment and Meth
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when multiple samples were reported
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$ Early rearing of
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i) The number of t
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In addition, some sockeye salmon (e
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• Selecting probable effect conce
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deBruyn, A.M., H. deBruyn, M.G. Iko
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Appendix 5. Data description and so
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Potential Effects of Contaminants on Fraser River Sockeye Salmon

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