3rd CHEMSEA fish sampling campaign ready to go!

This coming 1-20 December, the Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology (vTI FOE) will begin its 3rd CHEMSEA expedition onboard the German RV Walther Herwig III, heading for sampling sites in the CWA dumpsites of Bornholm Basin, Gotland Deep, Gdansk Deep and the Little Belt. 

In addition, fish samples will also be collected in reference areas of the eastern and western Baltic Sea. Previous sampling campaigns took place in December 2011 and in May 2012.

 

The main purpose of the 3-week cruise is to study the health status of cod (Gadus morhua) in CWA dumpsites and reference areas by applying a battery of biomarker techniques. These are capable of detecting early toxic effects at the biochemical and subcellular levels as well as chronic effects on the immune status and the response to infectious pathogens.

 

In addition to the health studies directly carried out onboard by scientists from CHEMSEA partner institutes, a large variety of samples will be taken and distributed to project partners for subsequent lab analyses, including chemical analysis of CWA-related contaminants in fish tissues.

 

For further information please contact the cruise leader T. Lang (vTI FOE) at thomas.lang@vti.bund.de.