Growth, survival and evaluation of toxicant exposure in rainbow trout reared in urban stormwater ponds

To create additional fishing opportunities in Alberta, Canada it has been suggested that urban stormwater ponds be stocked with rainbow trout. Thirty-one stormwater ponds were assessed for suitability to support put-and-take recreational fisheries. Six ponds met the physical, biological and water quality parameters necessary for trout survival and were each stocked with a minimum of four hundred rainbow trout per pond. To determine stocking success and if fish were exposed to urban contaminants, i) fish survival, ii) fish growth, and iii) several indicators of toxicant exposure (AChE, Hg, cortisol and vitellogenin) were evaluated. Fish survival was low in all six ponds. Poor water quality, predation (including angler induced mortalities) and interspecific competition were responsible for the poor survival in all ponds and complete failure of two ponds. Despite the low fish survival, there was very little evidence to suggest that fish were exposed to harmful concentrations of toxicants.

Author

• Seward, Scott L

• Urban stormwater ponds
• Toxicant exposure
• Urban contaminants
• Fishing in Alberta
• Fish survival

Identifier

hdl:10133/3544

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:opus.uleth.ca:10133/3544