Objective
The aim of this study is to produce a synthesis of the literature on the impacts of xenobiotics, from the biochemical to community level, in commercial fish and thereby develop a conceptual model with which to evaluate and assess the consequences of low-level pollution exposure on population and yield.
This will be done by producing state of the art reports on ten thematic tasks examining individual aspects of pollution impact and their links to other levels of organisation. Through workshops and other communications, the results of the thematic reports will be synthesised into a coherent whole. Within each thematic task, the literature for European commercial and non-commercial fish will be synthesised. The outcomes of the project will be disseminated through the publication of thematic reports, a book, an international conference, a database of relevant literature and web-site.
Introduction
Extensive work has been undertaken to examine the impact of a wide range of xenobiotics on various individual aspects of marine fish and invertebrate biochemistry, physiology and population structure (Bayne et al, 1988; Forlin et al, 1995). These studies have been performed throughout Europe and worldwide to resolve various objectives. They may have been performed to determine the toxicity of a specific chemical or compound to assess the potential hazard to individual species or ecosystems from the disposal of waste (Donkin and Widdows, 1986). They may have been developed to provide a rapid biomarker for pollution (Goksoyr et al, 1991; Depledge, 1993, Lawrence and Nicholson, 1998) or to act as bioassays of health, fitness, growth, under varied complex environmental parameters (Lawrence and Poulter, 1996, 1998). In some cases commercial fish and shellfish have been used, in others species of ecological importance or that fulfil various monitoring criteria may have been chosen (Elliott et al, 1988).
Sub-lethal anthropogenic effects may lead to severe consequences for populations or species occupying the area (Moller and Dieckwisch, 1991; Bernat et al, 1994). Consequences at the ecosystem level may display a long response time and when effects are detected it may be too late to take countermeasures. Pollution exposure may also lead to decreased growth rates and increased infection but even these responses are preceded in time by effects at the molecular level (Blackstock, 1984; Boon et al, 1992).
However, direct links between xenobiotic effects at the molecular level and population/ yield response is yet to be demonstrated and there is currently no predictive capability in extrapolation between the two levels of observation. The need to improve our understanding of the links among the hierarchic levels of pollution response has recently been highlighted (Anderson et al, 1994). However, no study has currently attempted to link each of the response criteria (biochemical, cellular, physiological, reproduction, population/ yield) to evaluate the ramifications of low level, sub-lethal effect to population and community structure and thence the socio economic impact to communities exploiting the resource.
The aim of this study is to produce a synthesis of the literature on the impacts of pollution at hierarchic levels of organisation in commercial fish to:
- Identify, and where possible quantify, the links between the hierarchic levels of impact (genetic, biochemistry, growth and physiology, reproduction and fecundity, population and community, fishery resource implications).
- To identify the most suitable fish species with which to study the hierarchic responses. The species will ideally be of commercial importance, already have been studied extensively and be representative.
- To identify the weak or missing links in the hierarchic chain of responses in studies on commercial fish performed to date (including gaps in methods).
- To collate information from comrnercial fish population studies from European estuaries and inshore waters.
- To examine information from non-commercial species to identify appropriate methods for missing/weak link in the chain of responses.
- To determine any homeostasis in the system as an ability to absorb any effects of change. thus the level of change at lower levels will not be presumed to have an effect transferable to higher biological levels.
From this direct links between xenobiotic effects at the molecular level and population/ yield response will be identified with the aim of developing a conceptual model with some predictive capability.
Materials and Methods
The study will be concentrated under the themes listed in Table 1. These themes will form the topics for task groups who will produce status reports on the subject. Different project partners will take the lead in particular topics but workshops and other gatherings will be used to bring the topics together in a coherent structure. Where appropriate, best technical approaches and standardisation of methods will be encouraged.
Table 1. The thematic tasks to be reported on within the concerted action
Thematic topic
THEME NUMBER THEMATIC TOPIC
1. Genetic damage by xenobiotics at the individual level
2. Biochemical response to pollution and the use of biomarkers
3. Physiological and energetic response of individuals to xenobiotics
4. Impacts of pollution on the immune system/physical health of species
5. The influence of endocrine disrupters on reproduction
6. Impacts of xenobiotics on reproduction and fecundity
7. Impacts of pollution on the population ecology and yield of the species
8. The impacts of pollution exposure on population genetics
9. The state of the art in socio-economic impact modelling
10. Identification of the best model species based on the available information
RESULTS
The study will provide a Europe wide database and assessment of the subject and identify key areas for future research. It will produce a status report on pollution impacts on commercial fish in European waters, bringing together scientists throughout Europe to allow the collation of their ongoing and previous studies without duplicating effort within any single laboratory.
The concerted action will result in the production of 10 thematic reports which will be regarded as progress reports and thus contributions to the final report. The project will also result in the publication of a conceptual model linking the hierarchic levels of pollution impact. This will be published either as a major component of the final report or separately. The final report will bring together all thematic reports and provide a synthesis of work on the impacts of xenobiotics at hierarchic levels of organisation on fish and commercially used shellfish in Europe. The report will give a comprehensive bibliography of pollution impact both throughout Europe as a whole and, where relevant, elsewhere.
The greater contact between the participants will produce a directory of pollution studies in European waters and a database of known pollution impacts on European fish. This database will be openly accessible. In addition, the project will produce an internet site and maintain a bulletin board.
REFERENCES
Anderson, S., Sadinski, W., Shugart, L., Brussard, P., Depledge, M., Ford, T., Hose, J., Stegeman, J., Suk, W., Wirgin, I. and Wogan, G. (1994) Genetics and molecular ecotoxicology a research framework. Env. Health Perspectives 102, 3-8
Bayne, BL, KR Clarke & JS Gray (Eds.) (1988) Biological effects of pollutants. Mar. Ecol. Prog Ser. 46 nos. 1-3 Bernat, N., Kopcke, B., Yasseri, S., Thiel, R. & Wolfstein, K. (1994). Tidal variation in bacteria, phytoplankton, zooplankton, mysids, fish and suspended particulate matter in the turbidity zone of the Elbe estuary; interrelationships and causes. Netherlands Journal of Aquatic Ecology 28, 467-476.
Blackstock, J (1984) Biochemical metabolic regulatory responses of marine invertebrates to natural environmental change and marine pollution. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev. 22, 263-313.
Boon J.P. Everaarts J.M. Hillebrand M.T.J. Eggens M.L. Peijnenburg J. & Goksoyr A. (1992) Changes in levels of hepatic biotransformation enzymes and haemoglobin levels in female plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) after oral administration of a technical PCB mixture (Clophen A40). The Science ofthe Total Environment, 114, 113-133.
Depledge M.H. (1993) The rational basis for the use of biomarkers as ecotoxicological tools. In Nondestructive Biomarkers in Vertebrates (Fossi M.C. & Leonzio C., eds.). Boca Raron, FL; Lewis Publishers 1993, 271-293.
Donkin, P and J Widdows (1986) Ecotoxicology - effects of chemicals on the aquatic environment. Chem. & Ind. 22, 732-737.
Elliott, M, AH Griffiths & CJL Taylor (1988) The role of fish studies in estuarine pollution assessment. J Fish Biol. 33, 51- 61.
Forlin, L. Andersson T., Balk L. and Larsson T.(1995) Biochemical and physiological effects of bleached pulp mill effluents in fish. Ecotox. Environ. Safety. 30, 164-170.
Goksoyr, A. (1991) A semi-quantitative cytochrome P-450IA1 ELISA: a simple method for studying the monooxygenase induction response in environmental monitoring and ecotoxicological testing of fish. The Science of the Total Environment, 101, 253-261
Moller, H. & Dieckwisch, B. (1991) Larval fish production in the tidal Elbe 1985-1986. J Fish Biol 38, 829-838.
Lawrence, A.J. and Poulter, C. (1996) The potential role of the estuarine amphipod Gammarus duebeni in sub-lethal ecotoxicology testing. Water Science and Technology, 34 (7-8) 93-100
Lawrence, A.J. and Poulter, C. (1998) Development of a sub-lethal pollution bioassay using the estuarine amphipod Gammarus duebeni Water Research in press
Lawrence, A.J and Nicholson, B (1998) The use of stress proteins in Mytilus edulis as indicators of chlorinated effluent pollution. Water Science and Technology in press
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences databases
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology ichthyology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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United Kingdom
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