Use of survival and growth parameters of
white sturgeon exposed to Columbia River
water to develop white sturgeon-specific
culturing guidelines
Amber R Tompsett
SETAC NA Meeting
New Orleans, LA
November 23, 2009
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Background
• Poor recruitment of white sturgeon in the transboundary region of the Columbia River
• Adult sturgeon spawn and lay viable eggs
• However, few young of the year (YOY) have been
found in habitats considered suitable for this life
stage
• Hatchery reared juveniles released to the river
exhibit good survival and growth
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Background
• Possible causes for poor recruitment:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Lack of suitable habitat
Flow regime
Alteration of water quality
Nutrition
Genetic bottlenecks or inbreeding depression
Predation by introduced species such as walleye
Interspecies competition
Pathogens/disease
Pollution
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Project Objectives
• Exposure of white sturgeon early life stages to
Columbia River surface water at 2 sites
-Upstream of metal smelter
-Downstream of metal smelter
-Filtered city water control
• Evaluation of biological endpoints at each site
-Survival
-Growth
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Site Location
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Experiment Setup
• Retrofitted commercial trailers
• Continuous river water supply
• Controls at upstream site
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Exposure Systems
40L stream
40L stream
40L stream
Metering
pump
Full renewal
(205L) every 6h
85L
Reservoir
Pump
Water chiller
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
River
intake
Outflow to
river
Experimental Design
• 4 replicates per treatment
• 3 chambers per replicate
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Methods
• Adult sturgeon spawned at Kootenay Trout Hatchery
-4 males, 2 females
• Eggs hatched and reared to ~60 d post-fertilization
• Dead fish collected and counted daily
• Fish counted, weighed and measured at termination
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Cumulative Mortality
90
80
% Mortality
70
60
50
40
30
20
Control
10
River
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Day of Exposure
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
55
60
65
Survival Analysis
32
Average Days of Survival
31
30
•Average days surviving
29
-28.4 d for control
-28.8 d for river water
28
27
26
Control
River
Culturing Water
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Survival to Termination
160
Number of fish surviving
150
140
•Average survival/chamber
130
-105.2 fish in control water
-98.8 fish in river water
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
Control
River
Culture Water
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Seeding density regression
600
Number of fish mortalities
y = 0.9231x - 73.314
R² = 0.983
500
400
300
200
Control
100
River
0
0
100
200
300
400
500
Original Seeding Density
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
600
700
Effects of seeding density on white sturgeon
larval survival
• Fish densities were below ASTM standard guidelines
• At transition to exogenous feeding:
-ASTM (flow-through): 0.5 g/L/24h
-Actual: 0.066-0.214 g/L/24h
-ASTM: 5 g/L
-Actual: 0.265-0.854 g/L
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
White sturgeon culturing recommendations
• On average, 101 fish per chamber survived to termination
• Average fish mass prior to feeding transition stage was 0.049g
• Recommendations:
101 fish * 0.049 g/fish / 40L/chamber = 0.123 g/L
101 fish * 0.049 g/fish / (40L * 4 turnovers/24h) = 0.031 g/L/24h
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Seeding density regression with U of S data
600
Number of fish mortalities
y = 0.9138x - 68.97
R² = 0.9857
500
400
300
200
Control
River
100
U of S Lab
Control
0
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Original Seeding Density
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
700
Culturing Recommendations
• Chamber attributes may drive survival
-Volume
-Surface area
• Water flow seems to be secondary
• Recommended to not exceed 0.123 g/L fish
biomass
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Regressions of Fish Density with Mass and Length
45
600
44
43
y = -2.1785x + 595.64
R² = 0.6538
400
42
41
300
y = -0.0737x + 47.914
R² = 0.5731
40
200
39
Ave length (mm)
100
38
Ave mass (mg)
37
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Number of fish at termination
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
160
180
Average Mass (mg)
Average Length (mm)
500
Culturing Recommendations
• Stocking rate of 0.123 g/L is recommended as
a maximal value
• 80-100 fish at transition to exogenous
feeding
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Conclusions
• Exposure to Columbia River surface water had
no measurable effects on white sturgeon
survival or growth
• High larval mortality at transition to exogenous
feeding was observed across treatments
• Culturing recommendations calculated to
minimize larval mortality in future studies with
white sturgeon
• Great larval mortality may be a natural and
unavoidable part of sturgeon biology
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Co-author acknowledgement
David Vardy
Marcie Allan
J Hanne Smith
Eric Higley
Jonathan Doering
Karsten Liber
John P Giesy
Markus Hecker
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Thanks to…
• Teck
-Bill Duncan
-Rick Brown
• Kootenay Trout Hatchery
-Ron Ek
• Karen Smyth
• Jonathan Naile
• Howard Zhang
• Adam Jonas
• US EPA
• Selkirk College
• U of S Toxicology Centre
-Environmental Tox Lab
-Shanda Sedgwick
-Jacinda Duquette
-Liber Lab
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan
Questions?
Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan