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What's Killing the Coho in Puget Sound?
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Sea Wolf



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 12:55 pm    Post subject: What's Killing the Coho in Puget Sound? Reply with quote

What do you guys and gals think of this?

Tire dust killing coho salmon returning to Puget Sound, new research shows


https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/tire-dust-is-killing-salmon/?utm_source=marketingcloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning+Brief+12-4-2020_12_4_2020&utm_term=

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Sea Wolf



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 1:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just in case you can't access the article in the Seattle Times, here's a posting of it:

Environment

Tire dust killing coho salmon returning to Puget Sound, new research shows
Dec. 3, 2020 at 11:00 am Updated Dec. 3, 2020 at 3:53 pm

A team led by researchers at the University of Washington Tacoma, UW and Washington State University Puyallup have discovered a chemical that kills coho salmon in urban streams before the fish can spawn. (Kiyomi Taguchi/University of Washington)


By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times environment reporter

First they circle. Then they gasp at the surface of the water. Soon they can’t swim. Then they die.

For decades now, scientists have known something was killing beautiful, adult coho salmon as soon as they hit Seattle’s urban waters, ready to spawn. They had escaped the orcas, the fishermen, traveled thousands of miles, only to be mysteriously killed as soon as they finally reached home.

In a breakthrough paper published in the Dec. 3 issue of Science, a team of researchers revealed the culprit behind the deaths of coho in an estimated 40% of the Puget Sound area — a killer so lethal it takes out 40 to 90% of returning coho to some urban streams before they spawn. It is a killer hidden in plain sight.

Tires.

More specifically, a single chemical, 6PPD-quinone, derived from a preservative that helps tires last longer.

Through painstaking analysis and building on years of prior research, the team, including researchers from the Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma, the University of Washington and Washington State University, isolated the killer from a witch’s brew of some 2,000 chemicals in roadway runoff.

The chemical is a globally common tire rubber antioxidant. But when it does its job, interacting with ozone in the atmosphere, the chemical transforms to a substance that is highly toxic to coho.


Bound up in the rubber, this chemical taints tire-wear particles shed by tires onto roads. The tire dust is in roadway runoff that seeps, trickles and pours into water bodies, including urban streams, every time it rains. The more traffic on the road, the higher the dose.

Zhenyu Tian, a research scientist at the Center for Urban Waters at UW Tacoma, holds a sampling pole, which is used to collect creek water for future tests. (Mark Stone / University of Washington)
A preservative in vehicle tires keeps them from breaking down too quickly. 6PPD reacts with ozone and is transformed into multiple chemicals, including the toxic chemical the researchers found that is responsible for killing coho salmon. (Mark Stone / University of Washington)
Jenifer McIntyre (left), an assistant professor at WSU School of the Environment in Puyallup; Edward Kolodziej (center), an associate professor in both the UW Tacoma Division of Sciences & Mathematics and the UW Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering; and Zhenyu Tian (right), a research scientist at the Center for Urban Waters at UW Tacoma; at Longfellow Creek, an urban creek in the Seattle area. (Mark Stone / University of Washington)
Jenifer McIntyre (left), an assistant professor at WSU School of the Environment in Puyallup; and Zhenyu Tian (right), a research scientist at the Center for Urban Waters at UW Tacoma, at Longfellow Creek, an urban creek in the Seattle area. (Mark Stone / University of Washington)
1 of 4 | Zhenyu Tian, a research scientist at the Center for Urban Waters at UW Tacoma, holds a sampling pole, which is used to collect creek water for future tests. (Mark Stone / University of Washington)
Coho salmon, returning with the first fall rains, take the hit. They usually die within hours.

The pollutant is particularly problematic for waters near busy roads. Translation: most of central Puget Sound and its sprawl. Ironically, the millions of dollars spent to make these areas more salmon friendly and boost fish populations have created ecological traps for coho coming back to toxic waters.

Some of the scientists who published the paper were both exhilarated at the breakthrough and concerned by the findings.

“I find it incredibly sad to watch the adults when they are sick,” said co-senior author on the paper, Edward Kolodziej, an associate professor in both the UW Tacoma Division of Sciences & Mathematics and the UW Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Every fall he’d make a visit to Longfellow Creek in West Seattle and mourn what he saw.


“When you see a fish in the field, and know something is happening that is not understood, you just have to take that very seriously. … It was just so evident to everyone we were working on a real problem.”

It was the cross-disciplinary approach of bringing together experts in the biology and chemistry of the problem that finally cracked the mystery. Dogged determination helped, too.

Lead author Zhenyu Tian, a research scientist at the Center for Urban Waters at UW Tacoma said there were times when he wondered if they would ever figure out just what chemical was the killer.

He finally had the idea it might be not the tire itself but something related to it — and hit on the preservative. They figured out that the preservative, 6PPD, goes through an environmental transformation that turns it into 6PPD-quinone — a coho killer.

“This is the smoking gun. You go through all the lines of evidence and it lines up.”

Tian modestly makes it sound easier than it was, Kolodziej said. “It looks so nice and tidy in the paper. They went above and beyond,” he said of Tian and Jenifer McIntyre, an assistant professor at WSU’s School of the Environment.


“If you are a scientist, you are among the people most familiar with failure; you have to be so comfortable with not succeeding,” Kolodziej said. After all, most research is a product of figuring out what doesn’t work, what doesn’t answer the question pursued, Kolodziej said. “It is slow and difficult and positive reinforcement is rare,” he said of scientific research. “You have to trust the scientific process. You put in the work, like so many things in life, it is about putting in the work. “

It has taken decades to solve this problem, noted McIntyre, who is based in Puyallup and is among scientists who have been sleuthing out the coho killer for years.

Nat Scholz of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle was the lead author in a 2011 paper with McIntyre and other authors that showed that coho pre-spawn mortality was routine in urban streams. They joined with other scientists who documented that bio-filtration through soil solves the problem, purifying the water.
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PaulNBriannaLynn



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was skeptical initially, but after reading the article it seems plausible. A population of over 4 million people heavily dependent on personal vehicles. Let's say even if only half of that population is commuting daily to work in their single occupancy vehicles, that's wearing through 8 million tires every few years. It could be quite a bit of tire dust going into those tributaries and creeks they spawn in.

An interesting comparison would be to look if the impact has been less, or will be next spawning season, with a significant portion of that commuting population working from home this year.

The salmon have been impacted in so many ways, from low water flows and high temps, to sea lions and seals, not to mention fishing pressures. Its a death by 1000 cuts it seems like.

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chromer



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some people in this forum have taken their share. I am guilty too
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NORO LIM



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 6:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's the Science on line news article: Coho Deaths

We seem to have found yet another way to kill fish. Crying or Very sad

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DayBreak



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wild Coho fishing in the rivers along the Coast of Oregon has been closed for a number of years. Coho Salmon are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
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robhwa



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:10 pm    Post subject: 6PPD-quinone from tires getting into urban streams Reply with quote

When at the UW, I never studied this particular compound, but did do some work on metals, particularly zinc, leaching from tire "mulch" used in playgrounds. It was very toxic to plants. Some bad news there, but nobody wanted to hear it. I believe Linda Chalker-Scott at WSU did a lot more work on it. Washington State collects a fee on each tire when sold, and part of that fee is used to recycle tires, usually by shredding and using in public playgrounds. Schools and neighborhoods largely shifted from using bark and wood mulch to rubber mulches because it didn't break down quickly and get muddy. Often these playgrounds are incorporated into greenways and water retention and detention sites which are almost always adjacent to streams. Children further degrade and erode the tire mulch into finer particles when they play, and the runoff typically runs directly into water. Sounds like a program aimed at improving the environment by banning landfilling and burning of tires may actually contribute to this particular environmental problem with salmon. My guess is that manufacturers will find a substitute for this particular compound at some point. Well, personally I certainly gave Coho a break this year, not catching a single one. Fishing in south sound was poor, unlike last year.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Question, "What's killing coho in Puget Sound".

Answer, "Tribal nets" and tires if they are lucky enough to get by a net.
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Marco Flamingo



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Better solution is that we stop fishing for "sport" while we figure out the tire problem.
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robhwa



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Marco Flamingo wrote:
Better solution is that we stop fishing for "sport" while we figure out the tire problem.

I respectfully diagree, Marco. In my experience, fisherman are among the most vocal, active, and effective advocates for salmon. Imagine the impact on fisheries enforcement and research if there are no license revenues, and cities like Neah Bay or Westport if there is no salmon fishing. We generally aren't allowed to keep native fish anyway. Also, I've worked a lot with streamside restoration, including focusing required "service projects" of my intro Env Sci class at UW on salmon recovery with environmental groups. In particular, I've often found that the most devoted among those groups got their start fishing, hunting and/or gathering with friends or family. Also, you don't have to keep salmon you do catch, and natives are typically returned, though I do like to prepare and eat fish and salmon are highly prized. If I knew it would help, I'd quit keeping salmon, but 90+% of what I do keep are hatchery. Sport fishing breeds advocates, like Trout Unlimited. This spring I fished the Green River in Utah, caught dozens of trophy-sized brown trout, and returned with nothing but pictures. Best trip ever. Maybe what we need is more purely "sport" fishing.
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smckean (Tosca)



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PostPosted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
This spring I fished the Green River in Utah, caught dozens of trophy-sized brown trout, and returned with nothing but pictures.

I'm not saying this applies to anyone posting here, but as a FYI thing.

Some years ago I spent 20 years working as a volunteer with the Washington State fish and Wildlife Dept on the biology and habitat of trout in the rivers, streams, and lakes of the Cascade Mountains. One thing I was surprised to learn from various studies the biologists I worked with conducted is the mortality rate of fish that are caught and released. Most folks don't realize that about 30% of fish released don't survive more than a few days. That mortality rate can climb to 70% if the fish are handled (even just for a photo), hooked too deeply, or overly exhausted from the fight. If you see any blood, they will most certainly die.

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Marco Flamingo



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PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree that license revenue and some local economic benefit would be lost for a period of time. But something will take its place.

The benefit of sport catch and release is that the fish dies later and nobody sees it. So it isn't exactly a solution for a dwindling population. Habitat restoration combined with reduced pressure is the solution, but I doubt that will ever happen.

My point was that if coho restoration was seriously sought, the States could simply stop selling fishing licenses to Joe Whiteguy. The Tribes, as sovereign nations, have treaties with the Federal Government that would need to be renegotiated or violated (again). Stopping sports fishing is the quick and easy solution. Yes, there will be whining, but maybe bowling will make a comeback.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Move on folks. Nothing new to see here. August 1993 a good experiment with whole tires and rainbow trout established that tires were toxic and killed the trout. The specific chemical content was not determined.

I doubt that tire manufacturers will change the chemicals--maybe Washington State will ban tires, or cars all together at some point. Or maybe better storm water management?

We all agree that there are multiple issues with the Salmon fishery.

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stormwater management? Sounds good but when it goes unbridled as King Countys' has it will suffocate you with the burden. Their manual is already being adopted by adjacent states and lesser governments.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is rather ironic that the scientists are blaming cars for this when it is their own fault, along with the engineers. If they had given us the flying cars they said we would have by now like they promised back when I was a kid we wouldn't be worrying about tires, now would we?
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