The ICES coordinated monitoring programme for contaminants in fish and shellfish, 1978 and 1979, and six-review of ICES coordinated monitoring program

This report presents the results of the fifth year of the Coordinated Monitoring Programme. Under this programme, member countries of ICES submit the results of their analyses for certain selected contaminants in samples of fish and shellfish which are ~ollected annually from a number of specified areas. The programme began in 1974 as a follow-up to the 1972 baseline survey of the concentrations of contaminants in fish and shellfish of the North Sea (results in Coop. Res. Rep., No. 39 (1974)), which showed that certain areas, particularly the coastal areas around the North Sea and the Southern and German Bights, were significantly more contaminated than elsewhere in the North Sea. It was agreed that the results of national monitoring studies conducted in the identified areas should be submitted to ICES for inclusion in an annual report. In 1974 and 1975, only the above-mentioned areas were covered by the programme. However, in 1976 the geographical range was extended following the 1975 baseline survey of contaminant levels in fish and shellfish of the North Atlantic. The areas studied included the North Sea, the Irish Sea, certain coastal areas in the Northeast Atlantic, and several areas in the Northwest Atlantic off the coasts of Iceland, Greenland and Canada. Later, areas were included off the coast of Portugal and the northeast coast of the USA. The results are published in Coop. Res. Rep. Nos. 69 (1977) and 95 (1980).