Young Chinook salmon in British Columbia's Lower Fraser River estuary are feeding and developing among what researchers have described as a "chemical cocktail" of pollutants.
Experts at Simon Fraser University detected more than 200 contaminants in water and fish tissue samples collected at five sites in the Lower Fraser River estuary, a crucial habitat for juvenile Chinook in British Columbia. The study, published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, found contaminants including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, industrial chemicals, caffeine, and even cocaine.
Of the 595 contaminants measured, researchers identified 16 as "priority" chemicals with the potential to harm Chinook and other aquatic life, along with another 23 "watchlist" chemicals that may warrant continued monitoring.
Lead author Bonnie Lo said, "We've shown there's a mixture of chemicals in the Lower Fraser, which not only presents potential risks to juvenile Chinook, but also other aquatic life."
Contaminant exposure during a critical growth stage could make survival even harder for fish already struggling across much of their range. Fraser River Chinook make up as much as 90% of the summer diet of endangered Southern Resident killer whales, researchers noted.
With Canada's wildlife status committee, COSEWIC, classifying more than 85% of Chinook populations as Endangered or Threatened, further losses would reverberate far beyond a single species.
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Healthy salmon runs support food systems, local jobs, recreation, and cultural traditions. Pollution from pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals slows efforts to restore fisheries and protect the natural systems communities rely on.
Marine ecotoxicologist Tanya Brown said fish in the estuary are being exposed to "hundreds of chemicals at once," adding that scientists still do not understand "the additive effects of this chemical cocktail."
Salmon biologist Dave Scott said that is especially troubling for Harrison Chinook, which arrive in the estuary at very small sizes and "depend heavily on these habitats for growth prior to entering the ocean."
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