Study of the long-term effects on Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) exposed to an oil-polluted Calanus finmarchicus diet.

The aim of this project is to investigate the effects of trophic transfer of hydrocarbons, following a worst-case scenario oil spill, on the development and reproduction of Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus). The study will examine the long-term effects o f feeding oil-polluted Calanus finmarchicus to herring for two months during early vitellogenesis. Our study design will assume a worst-case concentration of 90 µg total oil hydrocarbons (THC) per litre water, and a bioaccumulation factor (BCF) of 1000 i n the water/zooplankton. The herring will be exposed in August and September and monitored for 6 months until spawning. The reproductive success, genotoxic events, biomarker measurements, proteomic analyses, and effects on the immune system will be invest igated.