Proposed development of a mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) early life-stage bioassay as a surrogate to wild fish surveys

联邦环境影响监测（EEM）计划要求在加拿大运营的纸浆和造纸米尔斯厂评估其废水对水生接收环境的影响。 它们必须在规定的三年周期内开展监测活动。 米尔斯下游的一个监测重点领域是鱼类健康评估，即野生鱼类调查，包括与生殖（性腺大小）、能量代谢（肝脏大小）和生长（年龄大小）有关的终点。然而，目前的EEM鱼类调查方法是有限的使用评估河口接收环境。 因此，对于合作伙伴欧文造纸有限公司（IPL）和AV集团-Atholville纸浆厂（AV）等河口米尔斯厂，不可能对其对鱼类健康的影响进行直接环境评估。这些米尔斯和EEM计划认识到，需要替代方法来评估其废水的影响。该提案描述了早期生命阶段的生物测定（ELSB），提供评估的生长和发展的mummichog（底heteroclitus），河口鱼目前在接收环境中的这些米尔斯。我们的目标是开发ELSB作为政府批准的野生鱼类调查替代测试工厂的污水在未来的EEM周期。该提案还提出扩大ELSB的使用，通过研究器官发育和基因表达途径来探索参与mummichog生长和性别分化的基本途径。这将提供新的见解的机制，污染物的行为，通过植物介导的影响（内分泌干扰物）和纸浆和造纸厂的废水引起他们的影响。 这些研究将有助于确定对下游鱼类造成影响的工业污染物的来源和类型。学生将在一个应用和合作研究领域进行培训，这对保护沿海环境很重要。米尔斯的环境管理将通过更好地了解废水在不同生命阶段的影响得到改善，因为通过将废物流来源与生物影响联系起来，有可能实现改善。

The Federal Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) program mandates that pulp and paper mills operating in Canada assess the impacts of their effluents on aquatic receiving environments. They must undertake monitoring activities as part of regulated three-year cycles. One area of monitoring focus downstream of mills is the assessment of fish health, that is a wild fish survey that includes endpoints related to reproduction (gonad size), energy metabolism (liver size), and growth (size at age). However, current EEM fish survey methods are of limited use for assessing estuarine receiving environments. Direct environmental assessment of their impact on fish health is, therefore, not possible for estuarine mills such as partners Irving Paper Ltd. (IPL) and AV Group-Atholville Pulp Mill (AV). These mills and the EEM program recognize that alternate approaches are needed to evaluate effects of their effluents. This proposal describes development of an early life-stage bioassay (ELSB) that provides assessments of growth and development of mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), an estuarine fish present in receiving environments of these mills. The goal is to develop the ELSB as a government-approved wild fish survey alternative to test mill effluents in future EEM cycles. The proposal also sets out to expand use of the ELSB to explore fundamental pathways involved in growth and sexual differentiation of mummichog through studying organ development and gene expression pathways. This will provide novel insight into the mechanisms by which contaminants that act via hormone-mediated impacts (endocrine disruptors) and pulp and paper mill effluents elicit their effects. These studies will aid in the identification of sources and types of contaminants from industries that cause effects in fish exposed downstream. Students will be trained in an applied and collaborative research area important for protection of coastal environments. Environmental stewardship of the mills will be improved through better understanding of effects of effluents across different life stages because improvements can potentially be implemented by linking wastestream sources and biological effects.**