Mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls in striped bass (Morons saxatilis) from two nova Scotia Rivers

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) collected from the Annapolis and Shubenacadie Rivers in Nova Scotia, Canada, were analyzed for Hg in four tissues and for PCB's in two tissues. Average Hg concentrations in the muscle, liver, kidney, and gonad of 3.9 kg fish from Annapolis River were 0.77, 0.79, 0.26, and 0.07 μg g^?1, respectively, and the corresponding values for the much smaller, 1.5 kg, fish from the Shubenacadie River were 0.51, 0.27, 0.24, and 0.06 μg g^?1. The PCB concentrations in the muscle tissues of fish from Annapolis and Shubenacadie Rivers are 0.02 and 0.01 μg g^?1, respectively, while the concentrations in gonads are 1.4 and 0.04 μg g^?1 The observed lack of recruitment of striped bass in the Annapolis River may be related to high PCB concentrations in the gonad tissue.