Chemical contamination and the annual summer die-off of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

In 1987, striped bass (Morone saxatilis) that were nearly dead (moribund) were captured by hand net, and apparently healthy striped bass were caught by hook and line from adjacent waters in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or, alternatively, caught by hook and line from the Pacific Ocean. The livers of these three groups of striped bass were examined for chemical contamination by gas chromatography, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and by immunoassay. Moribund striped bass livers were greatly contaminated by chemicals compared to healthy fish caught in the Delta and the Pacific Ocean. The types of contaminant encountered suggested that industrial, agricultural, and urban pollutants were present in the livers of moribund fish. Although the variability in the amount of hepatic contaminants observed among the groups of fish does not provide direct proof of causation, the large amount of pollutants suggests that chemical contamination (possibly acting as multiple stressors) contributes to the hepatotoxic condition of the moribund striped bass and may lead to an explanation of the die-off in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region.