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Using a Pacific herring bioassay to assess the toxicity of retene and wood leachates

Research

There are multiple embayments in Puget Sound embayments that are heavily contaminated with wood debris from industrial waste. Wood can leach harmful chemicals into the waterand may be partially responsible for high embryo mortality in Port Gamble. Under the supervision of Dr. Paul Dinnel from Shannon Point Marine Center, my goal was to determine if substances leached from wood affects Pacific herring larval survival and growth.

Acknowledgements

I thank the directors of the Multicultural Initiative in Marine Sciences: Undergraduate Program (MIMSUP), Dr. Steve Sulkin and Dr. Brian Bingham. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (OCE- 0741372). I also thank Kurt Stick, Washington Department of Fish Wildlife, for herring larvae and Curt Adcock, Sierra Pacific Industries, for wood chips.

• Western Washington University
• Bellingham, Washington