Presence and distribution of PAHs, PCBs and DDE in feed and sediments under salmon aquaculture cages in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada

1.Wastes from feed and faeces can result in the deposition of contaminants in sediments around aquaculture sites. Five types of feed pellet, a commercial fish oil and 76 sediment samples collected under and up to 100 m away from salmon aquaculture cages in the south-western Bay of Fundy between 1998 and 2000 were analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated pesticides. 2.Five alkylated naphthalenes (aNAs) were consistently detected in fish oil (116–180 ng g−1, per aNA), in pellets (25–51 ng g−1, dry weight, per aNA), and sediments (<1–45 ng g−1, dry weight, per aNA). Other PAHs were detected at variable levels in feed or in sediments. 3.IUPAC congener 153 (a PCB) and p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE) were detected more frequently than other chlorinated targets in oil (108 ng g−1 and 176 ng g−1 respectively), feed (<1–14 ng g−1 and 1.7–28.2 ng g−1 respectively) and sediments (<0.08–3 ng g−1 and <0.5–7 ng g−1 respectively). 4.Trends were observed during the first year of sediment sampling (1998), with higher organic carbon, PCBs and p,p′-DDE levels below the cages than 50 m away. The PAHs other than aNA showed an opposite trend with distance. In 1999, levels of p,p′-DDE and PCBs were somewhat reduced under the cages, but were detected up to 100 m away from the cages. 5.Levels of aNA tended to be higher at some sites in 1999 relative to 1998, reflecting variability in feed and/or differential transport or degradation of contaminants relative to the environmental background. When detected, mean levels of PCBs and DDE were 2–10 times lower in 2000 than in 1999, and PAHs were 30–40% lower in 2000 than in 1999. 6.Interpretation of the results is done cautiously, since the exact locations of the sites sampled is only known to an intermediate facilitating the work between farmers and scientists. Levels of contaminants are compared with international results, interpreted relative to potential toxicity, uptake from feed, from deposited sediments, and in the framework of an aquaculture decision-support system published recently. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  R. Hites,et al.  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Gulf of Maine sediments and Nova Scotia soils , 1979 .

[2]  Ǐ. Salihoǧlu,et al.  DDT, DDE, and PCB residues in fish, crustaceans and sediments from the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey☆ , 1980 .

[3]  M. Shiaris,et al.  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surficial sediments of Boston Harbour, Massachusetts, USA , 1986 .

[4]  Maruf Hossain,et al.  Effect of ship scrapping activities on the soil and sea environment in the coastal area of Chittagong, Bangladesh , 1986 .

[5]  Barry G. Oliver,et al.  Trophodynamic analysis of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and other chlorinated hydrocarbons in the Lake Ontario ecosystem , 1988 .

[6]  Evaluation of Hach Fish Farmer's Water Quality Test Kits for Saline Water , 1988 .

[7]  P. Boehm,et al.  The composition and distribution of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons in nearshore sediments, river sediments, and coastal peat of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea: Implications for detecting anthropogenic hydrocarbon inputs , 1992 .

[8]  J. Aislabie,et al.  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in nearshore marine sediments of Australia. , 1992, The Science of the total environment.

[9]  Bjørn Tore Lunestad,et al.  Impact of administering antibacterial agents on wild fish and blue mussels Mytilus edulis in the vicinity of fish farms , 1994 .

[10]  U. Varanasi,et al.  Bioaccumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by marine organisms. , 1995, Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[11]  Non-, Mono-, and Di-o-Chlorobiphenyl Concentrations and Their Toxic Equivalents to 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo[p]dioxin in Aroclors® and Digestive Glands from American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Captured in Atlantic Canada , 1996, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[12]  W. G. Warren,et al.  Polycyclic aromatic compounds and saturated hydrocarbons in tissues of flatfish: Insight on environmental exposure , 1997 .

[13]  A. Schecter,et al.  Levels of dioxins, dibenzofurans, PCB and DDE congeners in pooled food samples collected in 1995 at supermarkets across the United States. , 1997, Chemosphere.

[14]  D. Mackay,et al.  Levels, persistence and bioavailability of organic contaminants present in marine harbor sediments impacted by raw sewage. , 1999, Chemosphere.

[15]  D. Broman,et al.  Inventories and fluxes of polychlorinated biphenyls from a contaminated industrial site , 1999 .

[16]  J. Bouquegneau,et al.  Heavy Metals, Organochlorines and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sperm Whales Stranded in the Southern North Sea During the 1994/1995 Winter , 1999 .

[17]  D. Inman,et al.  Transport and fate of organochlorines discharged to the salt marsh at Upper Newport Bay, California, USA , 2000 .

[18]  R. Dietz,et al.  Circumpolar trends of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides in the arctic marine environment inferred from levels in ringed seals , 2000 .

[19]  D. Haynes,et al.  ORGANOCHLORINE, HEAVY METAL AND POLYAROMATIC HYDROCARBON POLLUTANT CONCENTRATIONS IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF (AUSTRALIA) ENVIRONMENT: A REVIEW , 2000 .

[20]  B. D. Chang,et al.  Environmental impact of chemical wastes produced by the salmon aquaculture industry , 2001 .

[21]  Dietary Exposure of Finfish to Aromatic Contaminants and Tissue Distribution , 2002, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[22]  Tracy K. Collier,et al.  Use of tissue and sediment-based threshold concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to protect juvenile salmonids listed under the US Endangered Species Act , 2002 .

[23]  B. T Hargrave.  A traffic light decision system for marine finfish aquaculture siting , 2002 .

[24]  K. Haya,et al.  Aquaculture-related trace metals in sediments and lobsters and relevance to environmental monitoring program ratings for near-field effects. , 2002, Marine pollution bulletin.

[25]  Adrian Covaci,et al.  Investigation of selected persistent organic pollutants in farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), salmon aquaculture feed, and fish oil components of the feed. , 2002, Environmental science & technology.

[26]  J. Hellou,et al.  Distribution of PACs in surficial sediments and bioavailability to mussels, Mytilus edulis of Halifax Harbour. , 2002, Marine environmental research.

[27]  M D L Easton,et al.  Preliminary examination of contaminant loadings in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial salmon feed. , 2002, Chemosphere.

[28]  J. Widdows,et al.  Measurement of stress effects (scope for growth) and contaminant levels in mussels (Mytilus edulis) collected from the Irish Sea. , 2002, Marine environmental research.

[29]  T. King,et al.  Selection of bioindicators for monitoring marine environmental quality in the Bay of Fundy, Atlantic Canada. , 2003, Marine pollution bulletin.

[30]  S. Lung,et al.  Exposure of Taiwan residents to polychlorinated biphenyl congeners from farmed, ocean-caught, and imported fish. , 2003, Environmental science & technology.

[31]  Biomagnification study on organochlorine compounds in marine aquaculture: the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) as a model. , 2003 .

[32]  Steven J. Schwager,et al.  Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed Salmon , 2004, Science.