Executive Summary 



Executive Summary 

 International Mussel Watch, Initial Phase 



The International Mussel Watch Program Initial Phase ( South America, Central America, 

 Caribbean and Mexico) has been completed. International Mussel Watch was undertaken under the 

 auspices of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the UNEP Ocean 

 and Coastal Areas Program to assess the extent of chemical contamination of the coastal areas; 

 primarily in the equatorial and subequatorial areas of the southern hemisphere with particular 

 attention to coastal areas of developing countries. Previous national and international regional 

 efforts had provided a first assessment and several in depth studies for coastal areas of developed 

 countries in the northern hemisphere using bivalves as sentinel organisms of chemical 

 contamination of the coastal areas. 



This Final Report meets three goals: 



• reports the analytical results of IMW Initial Phase, with interpretation of the combined 

 data set, 



• documents the organization and implementation of the Initial Phase, and 



• serves as a reference for participating scientists in the region. 



In May, 1991 members of the International Mussel Watch Committee and representatives 

 of three regional monitoring programs met at the University of Costa Rica under the leadership of 

 Prof. Edward D. Goldberg, Chairman of the International Mussel Watch Committee to finalize the 

 initial implementation phase ( Phase I). Sampling sites were chosen and participating national 

 scientists identified. The Project Secretariat at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution under the 

 direction of Dr. John W. Farrington , Vice Chairman of the International Mussel Watch 

 Committee, and Mr. Bruce W. Tripp, Executive Officer of International Mussel Watch 

 coordinated this Initial Phase. The two central analytical facilities where the samples were analyzed 

 were the Marine Environmental Laboratory (MEL), International Atomic Agency Laboratory, 

 Monaco and the Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG) at Texas A and M 

 University, College Station, Texas, USA. 



Dr. Jose Sericano of GERG was seconded to MEL for purposes of the field sampling and 

 he collected samples throughout the region with assistance from Host-Country scientists. A total of 

 76 sites were sampled. Selection of sites included locations near known or suspected 

 contamination sources ( industrial, urban, agricultural run-off) and suspected non-contaminated 

 sites and were from estuarine and open coast parts of the sub-littoral. Since there are not one, two 

 or even three species which are common to allsites when considering the entire coastal region of 

 this IMW phase, between two and five different species were collected at several of the stations for 

 between-species comparison to calibrate the sample set. Between-species differences of no more 



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