Largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides were stocked at 50 or 100 mm total length (TL) into backwater areas of Pool 4 of the Arkansas River to determine their respective contributions to the year‐class. Fifty‐millimeter fingerlings were stocked at 309 fish/ha in June 2003, and 100‐mm fingerlings were stocked at 62 fish/ha in August 2003. In November 2003, the percentage contributions of these fish to the year‐class were 13.2% and 13.8% for the 50‐ and 100‐mm fingerlings, respectively. Contributions in May 2004 were 17.6% and 17.2% for the 50‐ and 100‐mm fingerlings, respectively. Stocking size and sampling year did not explain significant amounts of the variability in the contribution of stocked largemouth bass to the year‐class. Poststocking catch per unit effort of wild largemouth bass did not differ among stocked and reference coves. Some stocked fish moved among backwater areas. The average lengths and weights of fish increased between November 2003 and May 2004. However, the lengths and weights of the 50‐mm stocked, 100‐mm stocked, and wild fish were not significantly different from each other in either November 2003 or May 2004. For this riverine system, fisheries managers might expect similar contributions to a year‐class from largemouth bass fingerlings of 50 mm TL stocked at 309/ha in June and those of 100 mm TL stocked at 62/ha in August.

As frontline clinicians, occupational and environmental health nurses play an important role in educating workers and the public about the dangers and toxic effects of environmental contaminants. One of these contaminants is methylmercury, which enters the body through the consumption of contaminated fish and seafood. Methylmercury affects the central nervous system where it may cause psychiatric disturbances, ataxia, neuropathy, and visual and hearing loss. Because their central nervous systems are rapidly developing, the most vulnerable subgroups are infants in utero, babies, and young children. Pregnant women and nursing mothers can directly expose their infants because methylmercury passes through the placenta to the infant and is also present in breast milk. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview for occupational and environmental health nurses and other health care practitioners about the causes and consequences of methylmercury exposure in women of childbearing age and children so that they can better educate workers about this environmental contaminant.

No abstract