The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) population in North America declined greatly after World War II due primarily to the eggshell thinning effects of p,p'-DDE, a biodegradation product of DDT. After the banning of DDT in the United States and Canada during the early 1970s, the bald eagle population started to increase. However, this population recovery has not been uniform. Eagles nesting along the shorelines of the North American Great Lakes and rivers open to spawning runs of anadromous fishes from the Great Lakes still exhibit impaired reproduction. We have explored both ecological and toxicological factors that would limit reproduction of bald eagles in the Great Lakes region. Based on our studies, the most critical factors influencing eagle populations are concentrations of environmental toxicants. While there might be some continuing effects of DDE, total PCBs and most importantly 2,3,7,8-tetrachlordibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents (TCDD-EQ) in fishes from the Great Lakes and rivers open to spawning runs of anadromous fishes from the Great Lakes currently represent a significant hazard to bald eagles living along these shorelines or near these rivers and are most likely related to the impaired reproduction in bald eagles living there.

Recently, there have been discussions of the relative merits of passage of fishes around hydroelectric dams on three rivers (Au Sable, Manistee, and Muskegon) in Michigan. A hazard assessment was conducted to determine the potential for adverse effects on bald eagles that could consume such fishes from above and below dams on the three primary rivers. The hazard assessments were verified by comparing the reproductive productivities of eagles nesting in areas where they ate primarily fish from either above or below dams on the three primary rivers, as well as on two additional rivers in Michigan, the Menominee and Thunder Bay. Concentrations of organochlorine insecticides (OCI), polychlorinated biphenyls (total PCBs), 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents (TCDD-EQ), and total mercury (Hg) were measured in composite samples of fishes from above and below hydroelectric dams on the Manistee and Muskegon Rivers, which flow into Lake Michigan, and the Au Sable River, which flows into Lake Huron. Mean concentrations of OCI, total PCBs, and TCDD-EQ were all greater in fishes from below the dams than in those from above. The hazard assessment indicated that current concentrations of Hg and OCI other than DDT (DDT+DDE+DDD) in fish from neither above nor below dams would present a significant hazard to bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Both total PCBs and TCDD-EQ in fishes from below the dams currently present a significant hazard to bald eagles, since their mean hazard quotients (HQ) were all greater than one.

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