The confederated tribes of the colville reservation will use this funding to assess the influence of mining-associated waste streams on contaminant exposure patterns and burbot (lota lota) health in…

The confederated tribes of the colville reservation will use this funding to assess the influence of mining-associated waste streams on contaminant exposure patterns and burbot (lota lota) health in the columbia river basin. The burbot is a sport fish species of cultural significance that lives in the upper reaches of the columbia river basin, including lake roosevelt, the kootenai river, and lake koocanusa.activities:this project will collect fish tissue data from wild burbot (lota lota) to identify and monitor metal(LOID) concentrations/profiles across spatiotemporal scales in the upper columbia river basin (WASHINGTON), and these data will be compared to existing/ongoing burbot sampling in the kootenai river basin (MONTANA). An assessment of wild burbot health will also be conducted to provide a quantitative evaluation of potential physiological and histological changes associated with differential anthropogenic stressors across both basins. To assess fish metal(LOID) exposures and the potential for negative effects of metal(LOID)S on fish and human health, fish from lake roosevelt (three locations) and a nearby reference lake without elevated selenium (bead or sullivan lake) will be collected. Concentrations of 57 metal(LOID)S in eight male and eight female burbot from each lake will be measured in liver, muscle, gonads, and blood. These different tissue types will be sampled to better assess the accumulation of metal(LOID)S by burbot and distribution among their tissues. Elements measured in tissues will include the metalloids arsenic and selenium, as well as the metals cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, and zinc. Blood concentrations of metal(LOID)S will be compared to tissue concentrations and fish health, as blood has been proposed as a possible non-lethal way to monitor exposure and accumulation in some fish taxa.subrecipient:the proposed project involves subawards to US fish and wildlife service's bozeman fish technology center (BFTC), the USGS eastern ecological science center (EESC), the university of MONTANA (UMT), and the university of connecticut (UCONN). BFTC has unique technical expertise with burbot reproductive histology and will assist with tissue collection. EESC has unique technical expertise with developing fish health indicators using genomics and will conduct fish health analyses and supply RNA extraction kits and supplies for analysis on the nanostring ncounter. UMT has unique technical expertise in biogeochemistry and will evaluate contaminant levels in burbot fish tissue. And UCONN has unique technical expertise with antioxidant assays and vitamin analysis in fish tissue. Outcomes:this proposal involves a multi-faceted study to evaluate burbot metal(LOID) exposure and health in the upper columbia river basin across a spatial scale by: 1) determining metal(LOID) profiles in wild burbot tissues; and, 2) evaluating health parameters in wild burbot to develop a better understanding of physiological and histological changes associated with contaminant threats across populations. Physiological stress responses in wild fish (i.e., multivariate stress) will also be assessed to inform the health status of wild burbot. A suite of physiological biomarkers and gross morphological changes in condition factor and gonadosomatic index will be measured for a multi-tiered approach to increase understanding of how metal(OIDS) in burbot are influencing and modulating the stress response and overall fish health. Tissues will be analyzed for a suite of physiological biomarkers including oxidative stress biomarkers (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, superoxide dismutase, catalase, vitamins a and E); levels of antioxidant mrna and proteins; and gill, liver, kidney, spleen, and gonad histopathology. Gross morphological changes (condition factor, and gonadosomatic index) will be measured. This multi-tiered approach will increase the understanding of how selenium is influencing and modulating the stress RE