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Fluoride: Effects of Fluoride on Fish Passage. NOAA Report. April 1993
NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NWFSC-7
[ NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]
Coastal Zone and Estuarine Studies Division
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1980-89 - http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/pubs/TM/tm7/tm7.html#toc
Edited by Douglas B. Dey
National Marine Fisheries Service
Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Coastal Zone and Estuarine Studies Division
2725 Montlake Blvd. E.
Seattle WA 98112
April 1993
Migratory delays at John Day Dam were not decreased appreciably by changes in fishway entrance locations, water discharge volumes or configurations, or turbine operating conditions. The lack of response by migrating salmonids to flow alterations below the dam focused attention on the possibility that something in the water might be causing fish to avoid the fishways and delay their passage.
In 1982, preliminary studies conducted by CZES Division personnel assessed the distributions of many pollutants near John Day Dam. The results of this investigation suggested that the fish-passage delays might be related to contaminants discharged at an aluminum smelter outfall located on the Washington shore 1.6 km upstream from John Day Dam. In particular, high concentrations of fluoride in the vicinity of John Day Dam (0.3-0.5 mg/L in 1982) prompted investigators to focus sampling and research efforts on this contaminant.
In 1983 and 1984, behavior tests were conducted in which over 600 returning salmonids (chinook, coho, and chum, O. keta, salmon) were captured and tested with different concentrations of fluoride in a two-choice flume located in the spawning channel of Big Beef Creek, Washington. The conclusion from these experiments was that the behavior of upstream-migrating adult salmon would be adversely affected by fluoride concentrations of about 0.5 mg/L and that concentrations of 0.2 mg F/L were at or below the threshold for fluoride sensitivity of chinook and coho salmon.
Beginning in 1983 and continuing through 1986, fluoride discharges from the aluminum plant were greatly reduced. This was initially due to modifications in the plant's pollution-discharge system. However, it was also during this period that the Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE) took an active interest in the results of the CZES Division's water quality and behavior tests. The WDOE lowered significantly the discharge limitations for a number of contaminants, including fluoride, in the aluminum plant's wastewater discharge permit. With the reduction in fluoride discharged from the aluminum plant, there was a corresponding drop in fluoride concentrations in the river near the outfall and John Day Dam. Concurrently, fish passage delays and interdam losses of adult salmon decreased to acceptable levels.
Damkaer, D. M., and D. B. Dey.
1984. Adult fish delay at John Day Dam. Report to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Contract DACW57-83-F-0323, 26 p. + Appendix. (Available from Northwest Fisheries
Science Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112-2097.)
Damkaer, D. M., and D. B. Dey.
1985. Effects of water-borne pollutants on salmon-passage at John Day Dam, Columbia
River (1982-1984). Final Report to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Contract DACW57-84-F-0173,
85 p. (Available from Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd.
E., Seattle, WA 98112-2097.)
Damkaer, D. M., and D. B. Dey.
1986. Effects of water-borne pollutants on salmon-passage at John Day Dam, Columbia
River (1982-1986). Final Report to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Contract DACW57-85-H-0001,
42 p. + Appendix. (Available from Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake
Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112-2097.)
Damkaer, D. M., and D. B. Dey.
1989. Evidence for fluoride effects on salmon passage at John Day Dam, Columbia
River, 1982-1986. N. Am. J. Fish. Manage. 9:154-162.
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