Research Product

Occurrences of pesticides in seafood, such as Jack mackerel from California, prompted the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (BCF), now the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to conduct a preliminary survey of the pesticide content of some coastal fish from the Northeastern Pacific. The purpose of the survey was to determine if these fish had recently accumulated or were in the process of accumulating commonly used chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides and to point out some specific problem areas: a comprehensive monitoring program could be established later on the basis of these and other results. Investigators at Gulf Breeze coordinated the survey as planned by BCF and analyzed the samples. Samples were collected and prepared for analysis by personnel from NMFS Laboratories at La Jolla, Calif., Seattle, Wash., and Auke Bay, Alaska. This note presents the levels of pesticides found in the fish livers.