The Trace-Element Content in the Pink Salmon Oncorhynchusgorbuscha (Walbaum, 1792) from the Sakhalin–Kuril Region

Abstract

The contents of the trace elements Hg, Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn, and As were measured in the pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum, 1792), a common Pacific salmon species, which was kept in the net-pens of the Reidovy (Iturup Island) and Firsovka (Sakhalin Island) fish hatcheries in October 2016. The levels of the toxic elements Cd, Pb, As, and Hg in the pink salmon from the Sakhalin–Kuril region were found to meet the official health standard norms for seafood in the Russian Federation. At the same time, they were a few times higher than that in the pink salmon from ocean waters off the Kuril Islands during its anadromous migration and dozens of times higher than in the fish from the Sea of Japan that were caught off the Primorsky Krai coast during the pre-spawn period in different years. The greatest differences were recorded for lead, whose concentration in the muscles, liver, and eggs of the fish from the rivers of Iturup and Sakhalin was, respectively, 50, 40, and 60 times higher than that in the pink salmon from the Sea of Japan. The only trace element whose level in the pink salmon from the Sea of Japan exceeded that in the fish from Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands was zinc.