Fish Stocking as an Overlooked Driver of Methylmercury Cycling and Exposure in Aquatic Ecosystems

This article identifies and discusses the role of fish introductions as an overlooked driver of methylmercury cycling and exposure in aquatic ecosystems. Farmed fish are often raised on a high-energy diet, with feed often originating from marine ecosystems that potentially leads to elevated concentr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental science & technology Vol. 52; no. 11; pp. 6081 - 6083
Main Authors Hansson, Sophia V, Bank, Michael S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Chemical Society 05.06.2018
Subjects
Aquatic ecosystems
Bioaccumulation
Contaminants
Contamination
Dimethylmercury
Exposure
Fish
Fish farms
Fish stocking
Food chains
Food webs
Freshwater ecosystems
Lakes
Marine ecosystems
Mercury (metal)
Methylmercury
Nutrients
Predators
Stocking
Sustainable development
Trout
Water pollution effects
Watersheds
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This article identifies and discusses the role of fish introductions as an overlooked driver of methylmercury cycling and exposure in aquatic ecosystems. Farmed fish are often raised on a high-energy diet, with feed often originating from marine ecosystems that potentially leads to elevated concentrations of contaminants.When fish later are introduced or "stocked" into natural freshwater ecosystems they can be considered a humanly induced biovector with the potential to transport beneficial nutrients and harmful contaminants, such as MeHg, that then can be incorporated into the food web in the "new ecosystem". Stocking lakes with non-indigenous or farm-reared predators, such as trout species, is a worldwide activity that has occurred at broad spatiotemporal scales and, with the exception of Antartica, non-native fish can currently be found in lakes and watersheds on all continents.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.8b01299