Fish physiology research to help guide municipal wastewater treatment practices in Hamilton Harbour

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The proposed research will quantify the biological impacts of wastewater effluent exposure on fish in Hamilton Harbour. Fish are chronically exposed to wastewater and can be thought of as sentinels of ecosystem health and function, but we know very little about the impacts of many contaminants in wastewater on fish in the wild. The proposed research will determine how wastewater effluent impacts the physiology of bluegill sunfish, a species that is both ecologically and economically important in Southern Canada. The work will address whether bluegill sunfish can adjust and cope with wastewater exposure, or whether their natural coping mechanisms are being overcome and their fitness being reduced. Results of the proposed research will be used by Hamilton Water (which provides municipal water services in the City of Hamilton) to help refine and most effectively manage their wastewater treatment practices. The project will forge a new and lasting relationship with economic benefits for Hamilton Water, and will create new knowledge to inform water resource management and regulatory policy on the health and sustainability of aquatic ecosystems in Canada.