Figure 2.3.1. Close-up view of double Van Veen grab sampler used for bottom 
sampling. 
2.4 Fish Tissue 
2.4.1 EMAP 
The NOAA Ship McARTHUR II had only recently entered service and was not yet 
fitted out to conduct trawl operations at the time of the EMAP/NCA Assessment. 
Instead, hook-and-line fishing methods (Figure 2.4.1) were used in an effort to capture 
bottom fish for inspection of external pathologies and for subsequent analysis of 
chemical contaminants in tissues of selected species. Any captured fish were identified 
and inspected for gross external pathologies. Selected species, primarily the Pacific 
sanddab (Citharichthys sordid us), also were frozen for subsequent chemical 
contaminant body-burden analysis. Water depths less than 80 m were generally fished 
quite easily with hook-and-line. Fishing at night, in high currents and in deeper water 
depths was difficult and was often unproductive. In particular, during the California leg 
of the cruise, high winds and seas physically hindered the ability to keep fishing gear on 
the bottom at many stations. 
2.4.2 Bight’03 
While a variety offish studies were conducted as part of Bight’03 (Allan et al. 
2007), there were no collections of benthic fish species for tissue contaminant analysis. 
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