Fish Tissue and Sediment Monitoring Program

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is responsible for enforcing the statutes of the State Water Control Board. The Department of Environmental Quality recognizes that many chemical pollutants discharged into state waters by point and non-point sources may impair public uses and/or aquatic life. Specifically, some of these chemical pollutants accumulate and persist in aquatic sediments and in the tissue of aquatic organisms, including game fish, at potentially toxic concentrations. In addition, chemical pollutants that bioaccumulate tend to magnify in concentration as they pass through aquatic food chains and may cause detrimental effects to consumers, including humans. To address these concerns, the Department of Environmental Quality - Office of Water Quality Programs' Fish Tissue and Sediment Contaminants Monitoring Program conducts routine studies of fish tissue and sediment samples in state waters. The program fulfills the Clean Water Act 106 United States Environmental Protection Agency grant requirements and the code of Virginia: Article 1. Section 62.1-44.19:5 which directs Department of Environmental Quality to implement the collection of fish tissue and sediment as part of a multi-phase approach to systematically assess, manage, and communicate the associated risks of contaminants in the aquatic environment.

At least one sediment sample is collected at each station where fish tissue are sampled and analyzed for a suit of bioaccumulative chemical contaminants. These include selected heavy metals, selected non-halogenated organic compounds (PAHs) and halogenated organic compounds (DDT, Chlordane, PCBs, etc.)

The analytical data are assessed to determine the human health risks for individuals who may consume fish from state waters and to identify impaired aquatic ecosystems. The Virginia Department of Health uses the data generated by the program to determine the need for issuing fish consumption advisories. The Department of Environmental Quality and other state and federal agencies also use the data to assess the environmental quality of Virginia's waters.