Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) Program: Environmental contaminants and their effects on fish in the Yukon River Basin

This project collected, examined, and analyzed 217 fish representing three species at 10 stations in the U.S. portion of the Yukon River Basin (YRB) from May to October 2002. Four sampling sites were located on the Yukon River; two were located on the Porcupine River, and one site was on each of the Ray, Tanana, Tolavana, and Innoko Rivers. Norther pike (Esox lucius), longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus), and burbot (Lota lota) were weighed and measured, and examined in the field for external and internal lesions, and liver, spleen, and gonads were weighed to compute somatic indices. Selected tissues and fluids were collected and preserved for analysis of fish health and reproductive biomarkers. Composite samples of whole fish from each station were grouped by species and gender and analyzed for organochlorines and elemental contaminants and for dioxin-like activity using H4IIE rat hepatoma cell bioassay.