In these river systems there is a variety of aquatic life. With there being a variety of fish being up to 40 species each for both rivers. Below are two charts of fish caught in the Delaware River. As you can see there is a variety of fish. Also, of note, many of the fish species found here are actually found in the Schuylkill as well. A chart could not be located with data similar to this of the other river. With such a variety of fish species there includes questions. Some of these questions are: 1.) Are these fish breeding well? and 2.) Can you eat these fish? For the first question, yes these fish breed well but problems occur because of water pollution. For the second question, any of these fish are edible but does that mean they are healthy?
Fish-Breeding Problems in the Delaware
Recently from 2007 through 2010, Scientists collected samples of two fish which are the smallmouth bass and the white suckers. Both fish can be found in local creeks such as the Pennypack, Neshimany, and the Wissahickon. Here is pictures of the fish for clarication:
Back to the samples of fish, after they were collected, female eggs were found inside male fish. This shows some sort of mutation occured in the water on a biological level. What is the cause of these mutations? It is the leaking of chemicals from various sources. A fish biologist by the name of Vicki Blazer took samples of these two same kinds of fish from the Schuylkill river as well. Her studies showed nearly all specimens of this type of fish show symptoms of being intersex type fish. According to NJ.com, "The fish’s endocrine system, which regulates hormones and reproductive systems, is being thrown off by the estrogen and estrogen-like chemicals being dumped into the water through both agricultural and human waste." Where does this waste come from? Humans.
Human waste and other substances such as manure (used for crops) goes into the water and directly affects the fish. These fish can still be consumed by humans but there is another problem. Population Level. If action is not taken place to prevent such mutations the fish will not mature and have a lower life span because of a weakened endocrine system. There is no single cause to why the fish are being affected. It is a wide variety of different substances. Another to blame is the flushing of unused medication down the toilet. This medication goes out to water and mixes with it.
Future action that can be taken place to stop this problem is better waste management. Instead of flushing medication throw it out. Better flirtation of these bodies of water can be done as well. Further research is also being doen to figure out how to prevent this problem from getting worse. Otherwise, Philadelphia anglers will be seeing less fish to catch in the formidable future.
Future action that can be taken place to stop this problem is better waste management. Instead of flushing medication throw it out. Better flirtation of these bodies of water can be done as well. Further research is also being doen to figure out how to prevent this problem from getting worse. Otherwise, Philadelphia anglers will be seeing less fish to catch in the formidable future.