ABSTRACT
With the potential of oil pollution harming Alaska's marine resources, experiments were conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service, Auke Bay Fisheries Laboratory to determine the concentrations of Prudhoe Bay crude oil that are acutely toxic to pink salmon fry in fresh water and seawater and also the concentrations of this oil that the fry would avoid. Observed 96-hour TLM values were 88 mg of oil/liter of water in fresh water and 213 mg/liter in seawater in June and 110 mg/liter in seawater in August. Among fry held in seawater, older fry were more susceptible to oil toxicity than younger fry and older fry were also more sensitive in their detection and avoidance of oil; older fry in seawater avoided oil concentrations as low as 1.6 mg of oil/liter of water. The avoidance of oil by salmon fry was quite apparent and suggests that there is potential for oil pollution to change their migration behavior.