Abstract
Gulfwatch was a Canada-USA transboundary coastal chemical contaminants monitoring program, organized and administered by the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC). The program ran formally between 1993 and 2012. It involved the collection of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) at rotating sites in state and provincial jurisdictions around the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy. Following mussel collection and processing, scientific laboratories in both countries analyzed whole tissues for toxic chemicals formally designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated pesticides, and metals. Although the program’s analyses ended in 2012, archived mussel samples dating back to 1992, both extracts and whole tissues, are currently stored and maintained at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. The GOMC (Gulfwatch subcommittee) and the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans are making these unique samples available to the scientific community to determine the presence, levels, and spatial distribution of previously unmeasured, environmental chemicals of emerging concern in the Gulf of Maine during this time period. We present details on the history of Gulfwatch, the contents of the archive, and how researchers can request and access the samples. The samples present an invaluable opportunity to gain a regional perspective on the distribution and concentrations of chemicals previously unmeasured, establish a baseline reference for future monitoring efforts, and improve understanding of the hazards that chemical contamination presents to the marine life and coastal resources of the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy.
Citation
Scovil, A., Wingfield, J., Harding, G. C. H, & Wells, P. G. (2024). Accessing archival mussel samples from the Gulfwatch Contaminants Monitoring Program. ACCESS/BoFEP 2024, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, 4-7 June 2024.
Related Blog Post
Khan, J., Legault, A., Margeson, K., Martinez Calderon, D. & Wells, P. G. (4 July 2024). “Tides of Change” – The ACCESS-Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership Conference, 4-7 June 2024. EIUI Blog. https://eiui.ca/tides-of-change-the-access-bay-of-fundy-ecosystem-partnership-conference-4-7-june-2024/