Publication Abstract

Sources of variation in post Chernobyl radiocaesium in fish from two Cumbrian lakes (NW England)

J.M. Elliott, J. Hilton, E. Rigg, P.A. Tillett, D.J. Swift and D.R.P. Leonard

The objective was to evaluate sources of variation in 137Cs in brown trout (Salmo trutta) and perch (Perca fluviatilis) from Devoke Water (samples from April 1986, September 1986-October 1988), and trout, perch and pike (Esox lucius) from Loweswater (samples from May 1986, August 1986-March 1988). Overall geometric means for super(137)Cs in trout (540 Bq/kg) and perch (1192 Bq/kg) in Devoke Water were significantly higher than those in Loweswater (trout 404, perch 989 Bq/kg); means for perch were significantly higher than means for trout in both lakes, and the mean for pike (568 Bq/kg) in Loweswater lay between the values for trout and perch. 137Cs content increased with fish weight for trout from both lakes, perch from Devoke Water but not perch or pike from Loweswater; 137Cs values for perch were generally higher than those for trout in Devoke Water; the power-function relationship between 137Cs and fish weight invalidates the use of uncorrected means for temporal comparisons.

Reference:

J.M. Elliott, J. Hilton, E. Rigg, P.A. Tillett, D.J. Swift and D.R.P. Leonard, 1992. Sources of variation in post Chernobyl radiocaesium in fish from two Cumbrian lakes (NW England). Journal of Applied Biology, 29: 108-119.