Tag Archives: Scientists link oil exposure to reduced survival of fish

NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center Scientists link oil exposure to reduced survival of fish

Federal scientists may have found a link between the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and a decline of herring and pink salmon populations in Prince William Sound.In a study published Tuesday in the online journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that embryonic salmon and herring exposed to even very low levels of crude oil can develop heart defects. Herring and pink salmon juveniles that were exposed to crude oil as embryos grew slower and swam slower, making them vulnerable to predators, said John Incardona, a research toxicologist at NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, in a prepared statement “In terms of impacts to shore-spawning fish, the oil spill likely had a much bigger footprint than anyone realized.” Read the rest here 15:10