Ecological Stressors

European green crabs are one of the most widespread marine invasive species on the planet. Where they are abundant, green crabs compete with other crabs and disturb sediment which can lead to loss of eelgrass and associated habitat essential for commercial, cultural, and ecologically important fish and invertebrate species. Green crab also are a major predator of clams, mussels, and oysters.

Researchers at that MMFS are experimentally determining the impacts of high PCB body burdens on the immunocompetency and disease susceptibility of Pacific herring.

Researchers at the MMFS are studying the immediate and delayed effects of petroleum hydrocarbon exposures to Pacific herring.

Species Studied - White River spinedace ( Lepidomeda albivallis ) and White River desert suckers ( Catostomus clarki )

Species Studied - Pahranagat roundtail chub ( Gila robusta )

For planning and management purposes, agencies require a web application that can locate, map, and monitor Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (flycatcher) breeding habitat across its range. The Habitat Viewer can identify potential flycatcher habitat and monitor changes caused by stressors, such as beetles, fire or drought.

This fish species has become a powerful model organism for the study of vertebrate biology, developmental and genetic research, and more recently infectious disease studies.

The Ecology Section examines how environmental variability, human activities and infrastructure influence food web interactions and species performance in freshwater and marine ecosystems. We have extensive experience in quantifying aquatic food web processes as they relate to growth, survival and production of key species of interest, especially resident and anadromous salmonids.

Low early marine survival rates of Puget Sound steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ), the state fish of Washington, have contributed to its dramatic population decline and current listing as a “Threatened Species” under the Endangered Species Act. Determining the cause(s) of this elevated mortality remains a primary objective of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, a large US / Canada effort...

In the decades following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS), it has become increasingly apparent that oil can be toxic at extremely low concentrations to developing fish embryos including herring, where some toxic phenotypes may be apparent during embryogenesis, but some are delayed until later in life. Therefore, acute and lingering oil may act as an insidious selective force within populations...

Using an approach that involves a combination of field- and laboratory-based studies, we are investigating fish health factors that may be contributing to the failed recovery of Pacific herring populations in Prince William Sound, AK. Field studies are providing infection and disease prevalence data to inform the population models, serological data that indicate the prior exposure history and...

Fish Parasite - Nanophyetus salmincola