Fish Health and Toxic Contaminants

Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP), through the Strategic Review System (SRS), reviews progress toward the 10 goals and associated outcomes of the Chesapeake Watershed Agreement. Each outcome is managed by a specific CBP Goal Implementation Team and their associated workgroups. During review of each outcome every two years, a workgroup is responsible to prepare materials for (1) summarizing...

Issue: Effects of exposure to estrogenic-chemical contaminants have been observed in many fish species worldwide. One effect is described as “intersex” because fish will take on characteristics of the other sex, such as immature eggs forming in male fish. Studies in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have also identified the exposure of fish to endocrine-disrupting compounds. The estrogenic-endocrine...

Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program has a goal to reduce the impacts of toxic contaminants on living resources in the Bay and its watershed. USGS leads the toxic contaminant outcome on research to increase our understanding of the impacts and mitigation options for toxic contaminants.

Issue: Millions of people rely on the Potomac River for drinking water and recreational opportunities. The Potomac is Maryland’s most popular freshwater fishing destination, and the second largest river that enters the Chesapeake Bay. Restoring fisheries is also an important goal for the Chesapeake Bay Partnership restoration efforts.

Refinement of the existing national-scale “de facto reuse incidence in our nation’s consumable supply” (DRINCS) model, complemented by field measurements, provides a screening tool to understand human and wildlife exposure to toxicants and pathogens associated with the incidental reuse of treated wastewater in the Shenandoah River watershed. The model results can be accessed in a companion web...

Chesapeake Bay Program video on Intersex Fish

A list of Chesapeake Bay Program videos highlighting USGS Chesapeake Bay Activities.

Issue The Upper Susquehanna River watershed (PA) has experienced a rapid increase in unconventional oil and gas (UOG) development since it is part of the Marcellus shale formation. It is also part of the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay, which is the focus of considerable conservation and restoration activities by federal and state agencies under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Brook trout...

Fish kills, skin lesions, and fish consumption advisories have raised concerns about the health of fish across the watershed. The USGS is working to identify the multiple factors that affect fisheries including toxic contaminants, disease, pathogens, and poor habitat conditions.

The streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed provide critical habitat for freshwater fish such as brook trout and migratory species such as river herring, American shad, and American Eel. These species have declined due to degrading stream conditions and barriers preventing migration. The USGS informs restoration efforts by (1) assessing habitat conditions and change; (2) the relation to habitat...

Research by the USGS identified a fish pathogen similar to one previously found in the United States only in Pacific salmonids -- salmon and trout species -- in the eastern United States and in a non-salmon species.

USGS fish biologist describes what the Chesapeake Bay means to her.