Scope for growth and contaminant levels in North Sea mussels Mytilus edulis

Abstract

M. edulis, collected from 26 coastal sites from the Shetland Islands to the Thames estuary and eight offshore light vessels, were used to monitor changes in environmental quality. The combined measurements of the stress response, scope for growth (SFG), and chemical contaminants in the tissues of mussels were able to detect, quantify and identify some of the major toxicants causing the observed pollution effects. SFG declined from north to south, reflecting both the major inflow of clean water from the North Atlantic via the north of Scotland, and the overall increase in environmental contmaination with increasing urbanisation and industrialisation towards the south. At the majority of sites, a large contribution towards the observed decline in SFG was caused by toxic (mainly polyaromatic) hydrocarbons. -from Authors