title: Characterization of fish hold effluent discharged from commercial fishing vessels into harbor waters.
abstract: Fish hold effluent and the effluent produced from the cleaning of fish holds may contain organic material resulting from the degradation of seafood and cleaning products (e.g., soaps and detergents). This effluent is often discharged by vessels into near shore waters and, therefore, could have the potential to contribute to water pollution in bays and estuaries. We characterized effluent from commercial fishing vessels with holds containing refrigerated seawater, ice slurry, or chipped ice. Concentrations of trace heavy metals, wet chemistry parameters, and nutrients in effluent were compared to screening benchmarks to determine if there is a reasonable potential for effluent discharge to contribute to nonattainment of water quality standards. Most analytes (67%) exceeded their benchmark concentration and, therefore, may have the potential to pose risk to human health or the environment if discharges are in significant quantities or there are many vessels discharging in the same areas.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Office of Wastewater Management, Permits Division, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA. Electronic address: albert.ryan@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Ryan J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.affiliation: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Office of Wastewater Management, Permits Division, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.affiliation: Eastern Research Group, Inc, 14555 Avion Parkway, Chantilly, VA 20151, USA.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Falatko
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003132:Commerce; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D006801:Humans; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D012767:Ships; D014131:Trace Elements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014131:Trace Elements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Biochemical Oxygen Demand; Fish hold; Fishing vessel; Incidental discharges; Vessel discharges; Water quality