EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON THE WINTER FLOUNDER AT 



MILLSTONE NUCLEAR POWER STATION 



Introduction 



The abundance of the winter flounder in the Greater Millstone Bight 

 has been evident from the beginning of environmental studies here. It 

 has dominated the trawl catch of demersal fishes and has been the most 

 numerous fish impinged on the traveling screens of the cooling-water 

 intakes. Its larvae have been very abundant in spring and large numbers 

 have been entrained through the cooling-water system. Following an 

 intensive survey, it was found to be the third-ranked sport fish in 

 Connecticut (Sampson 1981). It has also been a significantly important 

 commercial species, with annual landings of 489 to 769 thousand pounds 

 from 1977 through 1981 (Connecticut Dept. of Environmental Protection, 

 unpublished data) . 



Unlike most marine fishes, the winter flounder is a product of 

 local spawning with geographically isolated stocks associated with 

 individual estuaries (Lobell 1939; Perlmutter 1947; Saila 1961). Therefore, 

 impacts of Millstone power plant operations, particularly entrainment of 

 larvae through the cooling-water system, are of greater concern for the 

 winter flounder than for other local fishes which are comprised of 

 stocks with much greater geographical range and population size or have 

 life histories making them less susceptible to impact. 



This evaluation has focused on much of the research conducted on 

 the winter flounder at the Northeast Utilities Environmental Laboratory, 

 either concerned with that species alone or as part of larger monitoring 

 programs. The data and analyses were examined to see if they were 

 providing proper information necessary for the assessment of plant 



