White sucker (Catostomus commersoni) growth and sexual maturation in pulp mill-contaminated and reference rivers

1995 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Gagnon ◽  
D. Bussieres ◽  
J. J. Dodson ◽  
P. V. Hodson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturation ◽  
Pulp Mill ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni

Does annual variation in growth and sexual maturation of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) confound comparisons between pulp mill contaminated and reference rivers?

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 1068-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dany Bussières ◽  
Marthe Monique Gagnon ◽  
Julian Dodson ◽  
Peter V Hodson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturation ◽  
Pulp Mill ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Gonad Size ◽  
Kraft Mill Effluent ◽  
Pulp Mill Effluents ◽  
First Maturity ◽  
Size At Age

A previous study on the effect of pulp and paper effluents on white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), conducted in 1991 and 1992, in both effluent-exposed and reference rivers showed that fish grew faster at downstream sites than at upstream sites. However, in contrast with fish from a reference river, fish exposed to effluent showed no decrease in age or size at first maturity or increase in gonad size or fecundity in response to greater growth. The objective of the present study, conducted in 1993, was to test if differences in measures of growth and sexual maturation between fish populations in exposed and reference rivers would vary from year to year and whether such variation would affect conclusions concerning the effects of pulp mill effluents. Although size at age, fecundity, and age at first maturity varied between the two studies, patterns of demographic responses to pulp mill effluents, relative to reference populations, remained the same, i.e., conclusions about effects of pulp mill effluents did not change despite variation in demographic variables between years and sites. This study reaffirmed the view that only by including the fish populations in a reference river could effects due to bleached kraft mill effluent be separated from effects due to nutrient gradients.

Hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity, plasma steroid hormone concentrations, and liver bioassay-derived 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalent concentrations in wild white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) caged in bleached kraft pulp mill effluent

1995 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 1339-1350 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. van den Heuvel ◽  
D. G. Dixon ◽  
K. R. Munkittrick ◽  
M. R. Servos ◽  
G. J. Van Der Kraak
Keyword(s):  
Kraft Pulp ◽  
Pulp Mill ◽  
Pulp Mill Effluent ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Rapid Reduction ◽  
Handling Stress ◽  
Toxic Equivalent ◽  
Kraft Pulp Mill ◽  
Bleached Kraft Pulp

Prespawning male white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), captured near Jackfish Bay, Lake Superior (exposed to bleached kraft pulp mill effluent (BKME)), and Mountain Bay (reference) were caged in the BKME receiving area for 2, 4, and 8 d. Initially, the hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity was similar in fish from both BKME and reference sites and, upon BKME exposure, increased 20-fold at both sites after 2 d. The H4IIE cell culture bioassay was used to measure 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin toxic equivalent concentration (TEC) in sucker liver extracts. H4IIE bioassay-derived TECs from Jackfish Bay sucker showed no significant treatment differences; combined TECs for all treatments averaged 51.1 pg∙g−1. Mountain Bay sucker liver TECs were initially significantly less (4.64 pg∙g−1) than the Jackfish Bay TECs but did show a significant, fivefold increase when fish were exposed to effluent. Mountain Bay and Jackfish Bay 8-d BKME-exposed fish showed no uptake of TECs calculated from directly measured polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) during this exposure. The results suggest that PCDDs and PCDFs are not responsible for the mixed function oxidase induction observed. Handling stress caused rapid reduction of the plasma steroids testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone, confounding any possible BKME effect.

Detection of food limitation in health of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) 5 years after the closure of a bleached kraft pulp mill

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Arciszewski ◽  
M. E. McMaster ◽  
C. B. Portt ◽  
K. R. Munkittrick
Keyword(s):  
Food Limitation ◽  
Pulp Mill ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Pulp Mills ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Northern Ontario ◽  
Bleached Kraft Pulp ◽  
The Status ◽  
Catch Rates

Recovery of fish after implementing better management of effluent or following the closure of pulp mills is not well studied. Results from existing studies suggest the predominant responses observed during the operation of mills would predict a pathway of recovery, but this hypothesis has not been tested at mills with variable effects on fish. Multiple studies done at a mill in northern Ontario showed variable responses in white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), including effects on reproductive endpoints. Data from most years failed, however, to meet strict definitions of response patterns used in Environmental Effects Monitoring. After the permanent closure of the mill in 2006, white sucker were collected in 2011 to determine the status of fish. We predicted that no effects would be observed in white sucker after the mill's closure. Five years after the closure of the mill, however, female white sucker showed statistical food limitation. Males showed a similar trend, but fewer statistical differences. These changes, coupled with reduced catch rates, have not been previously observed downstream of this mill. Our results suggest that recovery of fish after the closure of mills may not be clearly associated with effects found during operation. The absence of recovery after closure may more broadly suggest relevance of effects of operational mills.

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