Relationship between oil exposure and reproductive parameters in fish collected following the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) in 1989, the effect of oil expo sure on reproductive parameters was investigated in wild populations of fem ale dolly varden, yellowfin sole, and pollock, Exposure to oil was the high est in the first year of sampling and decreased in the subsequent years of sampling, Both positive and negative correlations between reproductive para meters and indices of exposure were detected in varying degrees for all thr ee species. Reproductive parameters were not measured in the first year of sampling. For those parameters found to be significantly correlated to oil exposure, an exponential regression function was used to project reproducti ve parameters of fish sampled in the first year of the spill. A higher prop ortion of dolly varden sampled in 1989 were projected to have depressed pla sma estradiol-17 beta compared to the fish sampled in 1990, Published by El sevier Science Ltd.