http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/drugs-flooding-into-puget-sound-and-its-salmon/

Is it any wonder our out migrating salmonoids die at twice the rate of normal - we don't give them much of a chance!

Just more proof that when it comes to human impacts EVERYTHING lives downstream.

I wonder if the Nisqually's can come up with a way to extract the cocaine out of those fish? Smart recycling.

Here is a link to a preliminary report presented to the WDFW Commission in Aug 2015 on smolt loss research with heavy emphasis on South Sound:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings/2015/08/aug0715_06_presentation.pdf.

It is particularly interesting to look at the Nisqually results given its relative lack of development compared to the northern river systems.

And then there are the predation issues which the Times article does not mention.

And here is a link to a current news report on a Squaxin Island tribe's study on coho survival: http://www.king5.com/story/tech/science/...fish/80828824/.

Seems their effort is directed more at exploring whether moving their coho release point further north will improve survival and returns.

There is pretty good, but circumstantial, evidence that yearlong salmonids from south of the Narrows survive at piss-poor rates. I recall that yearling White River Chinook, released in Minter Creek, survived at the same rate as fingerlings released from the Muckleshoot hatchery on the White.

But, the cutthroat, which are resident, are doing well in deep SS. So it really appears to be something on the migration route. Or the cuties are eating all the salmon and steelhead.

The article of the wastewater pollutants seemed skewed to sewage treatment plant effluent. Just where do you think all the effluent from septic tanks goes, and what drugs it contains? Or, is it just the urban dwellers that take all those drugs and pass them on?

Chemical pollutants is all of us. Waste water treatment plants can't get it all. We documented problems in Boulder Creek (Boulder, CO) in the 1980s. Removal from the water column is almost impossible.

This is correct. It's all drugs out there in use, not just recreational. Birthcontrol, ibuprofin, aspirin, paxil, xanax and the list goes on and on. The east coast and mid-west currently hasvemajor issues with this in many of their waterways. Why do you think frogs are being born with extra legs. two heads and both types of naughty bits and all that? Our water is nothing but a drug cocktail, shaken - not stirred as served up by big Pharma. Add it to the list of what else can we screw up. With everything else going wrong, its a miracle even one salmon egg gets laid, let alone hatches and becomes a viable adult.

Bingo> We have a WINNER tonight! Nail meet Head!

I would suggest, though, that removal is not almost impossible. It is almost impossible cheaply. We, as a society, won't spend the money necessary. Pretty sure the technology exists but since dilution is the solution to pollution............

Yup. If Humanity is to survive, we're going to need to start making the difficult sacrifices it will take to at least slow the destruction. All we have to do is convince everybody that their standard of living is too high and convince rich people that some things are more important than increasing their wealth. That should be easy, right?

I've worked for the proper disposal of drugs and medicines. Went to a conference at the UW where we discussed problems and possible solutions. One of the things they implemented was turn in of excess expired drugs back to the manufacturer. Back in the day this stuff would all get flushed and pass through treatment.

It's not just the raw (expired or otherwise) drugs disposed by the masses consuming common pharmaceuticals.

In aggregate, the same folks are also $h!tting and pissing away untold amounts of unabsorbed/unmetabolized drugs and/or their pharmacologically active metabolites right into their toilets every day.

You can't introduce billions of pounds of exogenous pharmaceuticals into the population and figure it will just somehow magically vanish without working its way thru the "ecosystem" that we are all a part of.

I'm convinced the average American patient is a hyperconsumer of unnecessary drugs.

Less is best.

"I'm convinced the average American patient is a hyperconsumer of unnecessary drugs.

Less is best. "


So many believe a pill can fix anything.
Kinda funny the same folks feel a sense of entitlement as well.

I think you meant meth.

I think we are all guilty of leaving a lot of lead on the bottom of rivers. I'm not sure what impact it has but if it screws up people there's a good chance it's not good for fish.

I didn't find any data on the concentrations they have found. I don't think its like a salmon snorted a line of cocaine. Coco Cola used to contain cocaine. Not sure what the effects are of small doses. Most toxicity studies are done at higher concentrations. Definitively zero
exposure is ideal. The other problem is with birth control products that mimic hormones and can cause damage. I'm not sure what the metabolic rate is for most drugs. Guess I can help out by not doing ibuprofen or caffeine. Sounds like I've got a headache coming on.

Yes, concentration is everything.

In a sparsely populated area, $h!tting and pissing and flushing pharmaceuticals into the sewer won't amount to a hill of beans.

But according to Google, central Puget Sound is now populated by 3.9 million folks and steadily growing. That many folks $h!tting and pissing and flushing their pharmaceuticals into the sewer will start to add up.

Most folks have a tough time grasping the enormity of aggregate impact in densely populated areas.

You're right eyeFish> No wonder those South Sound fish can't make it out through the Straits! Deck is stacked against them from the get go