CBEP
supports the Marine Environmental Monitoring Program, a long‐term study
to assess the levels and locations of toxic contaminants along the
coast, using the common blue mussel as an indicator species.
Sampling at several Casco Bay sites suggests that while there was an
initial increase in lead levels from 1988 to 2002, there has been a
decline in lead levels in more recent samples.
Because regional and national programs also sample mussels, those
larger data sets help to provide a context for assessing conditions in
Maine. The
Gulfwatch program of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine
Environment measures toxic chemicals in the tissues of mussels over
time throughout the Gulf. Analysis of data from Portland Harbor
from 2000-2008 (undertaken for the State of the Bay 2010
by Christine Tilberg, Program Manager for the Ecosystem Indicators
Partnership) indicated that levels of most metals, including lead and
mercury have decreased over time. Spatially, levels of toxic
contaminants in Gulf mussels are generally highest in Massachusetts and
decline with increasing latitude north to Nova Scotia.
Learn more about the mussel sampling program
and its findings:
