MICROBIAL ANALYSIS OF A FISH WASTE DUMP SITE IN ALASKA

The bacteriological impact of fish waste dumping in the ocean was eval uated by comparing heterotrophic bacterial counts for seawater and sed iment at the dump site with those from a control site. Prior to dumpin g, fish waste contained 3.0 x 10(7) bacteria g-1. Seawater near the oc ean floor (bottom water) and sediment from the dump site contained 4.1 x 10(2) bacteria ml-1 and 2.2 x 10(6) bacteria g-1, respectively. Bot tom water and sediment samples from the control site contained signifi cantly lower bacterial counts (< 10(2) bacteria g-1 and 6.1 x 10(4) ba cteria g-1, respectively) than the dump site samples. For the five aer obic media tested, significant differences in bacterial counts occurre d only for the fish waste samples. Anaerobic bacterial counts, for all samples except fish waste, were slightly less than the aerobic bacter ial counts.