Drugs in paradise: caffeine, cocaine, and painkillers detected in sharks from The Bahamas.

Local indicators of abundance and demographics for the coastal shark assemblage of Bimini, Bahamas

Understanding of species interactions within mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs; ~ 30–150 m) lags well behind that for shallow coral reefs. MCEs are often sites of fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) for a variety of species, including many groupers. Such reproductive fish aggregations represent temporal concentrations of potential prey that may be drivers of habitat use by predatory species, including sharks. We investigated movements of three species of sharks within a MCE and in relation to FSAs located on the shelf edge south of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. Movements of 17 tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier), seven lemon (Negaprion brevirostris), and six Caribbean reef (Carcharhinus perezi) sharks tagged with acoustic transmitters were monitored within the MCE using an array of acoustic receivers spanning an area of 1,060 km2 over a five year period. Receivers were concentrated around prominent grouper FSAs to monitor movements of sharks in relation to these temporally transient aggregations. Over 130,000 detections of telemetered sharks were recorded, with four sharks tracked in excess of 3 years. All three shark species were present within the MCE over long periods of time and detected frequently at FSAs, but patterns of MCE use and orientation towards FSAs varied both spatially and temporally among species. Lemon sharks moved over a large expanse of the MCE, but concentrated their activities around FSAs during grouper spawning and were present within the MCE significantly more during grouper spawning season. Caribbean reef sharks were present within a restricted portion of the MCE for prolonged periods of time, but were also absent for long periods. Tiger sharks were detected throughout the extent of the acoustic array, with the MCE representing only portion of their habitat use, although a high degree of individual variation was observed. Our findings indicate that although patterns of use varied, all three species of sharks repeatedly utilized the MCE and as upper trophic level predators they are likely involved in a range of interactions with other members of MCEs.

The Horizon Europe project, CONTRAST, will develop an integrated assessment and effect-based monitoring framework (IAF) to measure the impacts of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) on the marine environment, which will contribute to the assessment of Good Environmental/ Ecological Status for application in EU policy (MSFD/WFD). The IAF will involve chemical measurements together with biological effects endpoints optimised to detect the presence and effect of CECs in the marine environment. Chemical prioritisation schemes will identify the CECs that pose the greatest threat to marine life and select which CECs to target in the laboratory experiments, where the effects on organisms and biodiversity will be assessed. In silico, in vitro and in vivo bioassays will be used to determine the mechanisms of toxicity of selected CECs. Providing information on how CECs interact with organisms at environmentally relevant concentrations and which biological effects tools should be used in the IAF to cover the range of toxicity mechanisms that CECs produce. A series of European-wide case studies will be used to test the suitability of the IAF to measure the effects of chemicals including CECs on indicator species and biodiversity and to model fate of CECs in marine environment. The knowledge gained from field testing and laboratory studies will form the basis for guidance documents and policy briefs on best practices for performing an IAF on CECs in the marine environment and help to provide the necessary protection of marine ecosystems.

Data limited species are a global concern for fisheries science and management. For example, historical fisheries exploitation has led to conservation concerns for Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) and coastal sharks off the eastern United States. The 2015 Atlantic halibut stock assessment was rejected, and the 2017 and 2019 data-limited assessments were unable to determine stock status. Large coastal sharks (Carcharhinidae, Sphyrnidae, and Ginglymostomatidae) are managed as a complex, which was most recently assessed in 2006. The 2006 stock assessment was rejected, and the National Marine Fisheries Service lists species-specific stock assessments of coastal sharks as a priority. Previous Atlantic halibut and large coastal shark complex stock assessments were rejected in part, because of uncertainties with indices of abundance. The trawl survey used to monitor Atlantic halibut catches few fish, and the surveys used to monitor coastal sharks are local and short-term. The goal of this dissertation was to improve abundance estimates for these species by standardizing fisheries dependent and independent catch rates for stock assessment. In Chapter 2, Atlantic halibut fishermen in Maine were interviewed to help create a standardized index from their logbook data which indicates a stable or increasing stock over the last decade that is consistent with fishermen perceptions. In Chapter 3, a fisheries independent survey for large coastal sharks was standardized in the Bahamas to account for changes in sampling and environmental variables, and the standardized series indicates relatively stable catch rates for the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) and lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) but highly variable catch rates of nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum). In Chapter 4, a Bayesian state-space surplus production model was applied to lemon sharks in the southeastern United States. The model incorporated prior knowledge of lemon shark demography and a combination of eleven indices of abundance and indicates a relatively stable trend is stock abundance since the mid-1990s, with some estimates of prior depletion. Results from Chapter 2 and 3 are expected to provide valuable information, on data-limited species, for management as a relatively empirical indicator or input to analytical stock assessment models. The results from Chapter 4 improve understanding of lemon shark population trends and provide information for fisheries managers that will hopefully provide a solid basis for future management advice. Chapter 5 provides a synthesis of findings and perspectives from each chapter, including overarching lessons and recommendations for future research. Ultimately, developing abundance trends and relatively simple stock assessments for data limited species can help to ensure they are sustainably harvested.

The occurrence and concentrations of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) were investigated in municipal effluents and in marine receiving water. Final effluent from four large publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) and seawater collected near the respective POTW outfall discharges and a reference station were collected quarterly over one year and analyzed for 56 CECs. Several CECs were detected in effluents; naproxen, gemfibrozil, atenolol, and tris(1-chloro-2-propyl)phosphate were the compounds most frequently found and with the highest concentrations (>1 µg/L). Gemfibrozil and naproxen had the highest seawater concentrations (0.0009 and 0.0007 µg/L) and also were among the most frequently detected compounds. Effluent dilution factors ranged from >400 to approximately 1,000. Fewer CECs were detected and at lower concentrations in seawater collected from the reference station than at the outfall sites. Effluent concentrations for some CECs (e.g., pharmaceuticals) were inversely related to the degree of wastewater treatment. This trend was not found in seawater samples. Few temporal differences were observed in effluent or seawater samples. Effluent CEC concentrations were lower than those currently known for chronic toxicity thresholds. Nevertheless, the evaluation of potential chronic effects for CECs is uncertain because aquatic life toxicity thresholds have been developed for only a few CECs, and the effluent and seawater samples had compounds, such as nonylphenol, known to bioaccumulate in local fish. Additional data are needed to better understand the significance of CEC presence and concentrations in marine environments.

Occurrence, persistence, and removal of contaminants of emerging concern through drinking water treatment processes – A case study in South Africa

Anthropogenic-induced ecological risks on marine ecosystems indicated by characterizing emerging pollutants in Pearl River Estuary, China

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have emerged as potentially important conservation tools for the conservation of biodiversity and mitigation of climate impacts. Among MPAs, a large percentage has been created with the implicit goal of protecting shark populations, including 17 shark sanctuaries which fully protect sharks throughout their jurisdiction. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas represents a long-term MPA for sharks, following the banning of commercial longlining in 1993 and subsequent designation as a shark sanctuary in 2011. Little is known, however, about the long-term behavior and space use of sharks within this protected area, particularly among reef-associated sharks for which the sanctuary presumably offers the most benefit. We used acoustic telemetry to advance our understanding of the ecology of such sharks, namely Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) and tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier), over two discrete islands (New Providence and Great Exuma) varying in human activity level, over 2 years. We evaluated which factors influenced the likelihood of detection of individuals, analyzed patterns of movement and occurrence, and identified variability in habitat selection among species and regions, using a dataset of 23 Caribbean reef sharks and 15 tiger sharks which were passively monitored in two arrays with a combined total of 13 acoustic receivers. Caribbean reef sharks had lower detection probabilities than tiger sharks, and exhibited relatively low habitat connectivity and high residency, while tiger sharks demonstrated wider roaming behavior across much greater space. Tiger sharks were associated with shallow seagrass habitats where available, but frequently transited between and connected different habitat types. Our data support the notion that large MPAs afford greater degrees of protection for highly resident species such as Caribbean reef sharks, yet still may provide substantial benefits for more migratory species such as tiger sharks. We discuss these findings within the context of species-habitat linkages, ecosystem services, and the establishment of future MPAs.

There is growing concern about the prevalence and impact of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). The environmental monitoring of CECs has, however, been limited in low- and middle-income countries due to the lack of advanced analytical instrumentation locally. In the present study we employed a nontargeted and suspect screening workflow via liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) to identify known and unknown pollutants in the Glen Valley wastewater treatment plant, Botswana, complemented by analysis of groundwater samples. The present study represents the first HRMS analysis of CECs in water samples obtained in Botswana. Suspect screening of 5942 compounds qualitatively identified 28 compounds, including 26 pharmaceuticals and two illicit drugs (2-ethylmethcathinone and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Nontargeted analysis tentatively identified the presence of 34 more compounds including (5ξ)-12,13-dihydroxypodocarpa-8,11,13-trien-7-one, 12-aminododecanoic acid, atenolol acid, brilliant blue, cyclo leucylprolyl, decanophenone, DL-carnitine, N,N'-dicyclohexylurea, N4-acetylsulfamethoxazole, NP-003672, and 24 polyethylene glycol polymers. The highest number of detections were in influent wastewater (26 CECs) followed by effluent wastewater (10 CECs) and, lastly, groundwater (4 CECs). Seventeen CECs detected in the influent water were not detected in the effluent waters, suggesting reduced emissions due to wastewater treatment. Two antiretroviral compounds (abacavir and tenofovir) were detected in the influent and effluent sources. This suggests that wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway of chemical pollution to the environment in Botswana and will help inform prioritization efforts for monitoring and remediation that is protective of these key ecosystems. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:52-61. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

The assessment of parameters population size and individual home range is important for effective conservation management of sharks. This study uses the novel application of photo identification (photo-ID) to BRUVS footage as a non-invasive alternative to tagging in order to generate individual capture histories. These were used in mark-recapture models to estimate effective population sizes and to determine home ranges. In the Cayman Islands a total of 499 shark sightings of six coastal shark species were recorded on BRUVS from 2015 - 2018, but re-sighting rates were only sufficient for the determination of population parameters for two species - Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi) and nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum). The calculated super-population sizes for Caribbean reef shark (180 ± 37 SE) and nurse shark (336 ± 61 SE) were greater than the estimates for each species based on a closed-population model (Caribbean reef shark: 128 ± 40 SE, nurse shark: 249 ± 48 SE), though both measures indicated that there were about twice as many nurse sharks (1.3 - 1.8 sharks/km2) as Caribbean reef sharks (0.7 – 1 shark/km2) within the study area. The demographic compositions included numerous immature individuals, indicating that breeding of both species takes place within the study area of 188 km2. Most recognizable individuals of both species showed linear home ranges of <20 km, but a few individuals were observed to have moved longer distances (Caribbean reef shark: 125.37 km, nurse shark: 156.07 km). The data indicate that the home ranges and long-distance movements of individual sharks observed within the islands’ marine protected areas (MPAs) often extend to areas beyond the MPA’s boundary, potentially exposing them to fishing activities. This study provides the first estimates of population size for Caribbean reef and nurse sharks in the Cayman Islands and the first estimate of a Caribbean reef shark population globally.

Approximately 9% of couples are infertile, with half of these cases relating to male factors. While many cases of male infertility are associated with genetic and lifestyle factors, approximately 30% of cases are still idiopathic. Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) denote substances identified in the environment for the first time or detected at low concentrations during water quality analysis. Since CEC production and use have increased in recent decades, CECs are now ubiquitous in surface and groundwater. CECs are increasingly observed in human tissues, and parallel reports indicate that semen quality is continuously declining, supporting the notion that CECs may play a role in infertility. This narrative review focuses on several CECs (including pesticides and pharmaceuticals) detected in the nearshore marine environment of False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, and deliberates their potential effects on male fertility and the offspring of exposed parents, as well as the use of spermatozoa in toxicological studies. Collective findings report that chronic in vivo exposure to pesticides, including atrazine, simazine, and chlorpyrifos, is likely to be detrimental to the reproduction of many organisms, as well as to sperm performance in vitro. Similarly, exposure to pharmaceuticals such as diclofenac and naproxen impairs sperm motility both in vivo and in vitro. These contaminants are also likely to play a key role in health and disease in offspring sired by parents exposed to CECs. On the other side of the double-edged sword, we propose that due to its sensitivity to environmental conditions, spermatozoa could be used as a bioindicator in eco- and repro-toxicology studies.

This study used suspect and nontarget screening with high-resolution mass spectrometry to characterize the occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the nearshore marine environment of Puget Sound (WA). In total, 87 non-polymeric CECs were identified; those confirmed with reference standards (45) included pharmaceuticals, herbicides, vehicle-related compounds, plasticizers, and flame retardants. Eight polyfluoroalkyl substances were detected; perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) concentrations were as high as 72-140 ng/L at one location. Low levels of methamphetamine were detected in 41% of the samples. Transformation products of pesticides were tentatively identified, including two novel transformation products of tebuthiuron. While a hydrodynamic simulation, analytical results, and dilution calculations demonstrated the prevalence of wastewater effluent to nearshore marine environments, the identity and abundance of selected CECs revealed the additional contributions from stormwater and localized urban and industrial sources. For the confirmed CECs, risk quotients were calculated based on concentrations and predicted toxicities, and eight CECs had risk quotients >1. Dilution in the marine estuarine environment lowered the risks of most wastewater-derived CECs, but dilution alone is insufficient to mitigate risks of localized inputs. These findings highlighted the necessity of suspect and nontarget screening and revealed the importance of localized contamination sources in urban marine environments.

Chapter 13 - Future trends and challenges in relation to contaminants of emerging concern

Little is known of the diversity, demography, and essential fish habitat of sharks within the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) marine ecosystem. To examine species diversity and the relative abundance of elasmobranchs in this region, bottom-longline and hand-gear sampling was conducted in Fish Bay, St. John, USVI, from June 2004 to December 2005. In the 8 sampling trips during this period, 54 standardized longline sets caught 174 elasmobranchs comprising 5 species of sharks and 1 batoid. Overall catch per unit effort [ln(CPUE + 1) ± SE] was 1.83 ± 0.16 elasmobranchs 100 hooks–1 h–1. Lemon sharks Negaprion brevirostris had the highest relative abundance based on log-transformed CPUE data (0.98 ± 0.15), followed by blacktip sharks Carcharhinus limbatus (0.91 ± 0.18), southern stingrays Dasyatis americana (0.28 ± 0.08), nurse sharks Ginglymostoma cirratum (0.08 ± 0.05), blacknose sharks Carcharhinus acronotus (0.06 ± 0.04) and the Caribbean sharpnose Rhizoprionodon porosus (0.03 ± 0.03). The relative abundance of all species was significantly higher in the summer (2.6 ± 0.2) than during the winter (1.1 ± 0.2). For the blacktip (N = 89 captures of 74 individuals) and lemon (N = 66, 48 individuals) sharks, which comprised the bulk of the catch, mean fork length (± SE) was 51.9 ± 0.63 cm and 59.9 ± 1.2 cm, respectively, representing primarily neonatal and young-of-the-year life stages. The recapture rates for blacktip and lemon sharks were 21% and 29%, respectively, and nearly all recaptures occurred within the bay, indicating a high degree of site fidelity. Capture information and limited acoustic tracking provided evidence of spatial and temporal habitat partitioning by these 2 shark species within the bay. Although the CPUE of both species was highest over shallow (<1 m) seagrass substrate, lemon sharks were found and tracked exclusively on shallow, mangrove-fringed seagrass habitat, while blacktip sharks utilized a wider area of the bay. Fish Bay was determined to provide important nursery habitat for young juvenile lemon and blacktip sharks in the USVI.

Pharmaceuticals, personal care-products and current-use pesticides: a review of the available data from European seas.