Chlorinated hydrocarbons and hatching success in Baltic herring spring spawners

Abstract Eggs from 69 females of spring spawning herring from the German Baltic coast (Travemunde, April 1979) were incubated in clean sea water (20‰ S, temperature 8°C) under standard conditions. Sixty-one trials could be used for the evaluation of hatching success. Viable hatch was taken as a measure to evaluate the effects of chlorinated hydrocarbons accumulated in gonads, liver and muscle of parental fish. PCB levels in running ripe females ranged on a wet weight basis between 19 and 241 ng g −1 (gonad), 20 and 377 ng g −1 (liver) and 11 and 1820 ng g −1 (muscle). Concentrations of other chlorinated hydrocarbons (DDD, DDE, γ-HCH, etc.) were in the same range as reported by other authors for Baltic herring (Huschenbeth, 1973, 1977). Viable hatch was significantly affected at ovary DDE concentrations higher than 18 ng g −1 (wet wt) and PCB concentrations of more than 120 ng g −1 (wet wt). Results are compared with data obtained during earlier investigations with flounder eggs.