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National Assessment of Pulp and Paper Environmental Effects Monitoring Data: Findings from Cycles 1 through 3

5.0 Fish Survey

The adult fish survey is used to determine if the effluent is affecting fish populations by comparing effluent-exposed fish with those from reference areas. The survey uses fish growth, reproduction, condition and age structure to assess the overall health of exposed fish. These are assessed via measurements of five core fish endpoints: weight at age, relative gonad and liver weights, condition (body weight relative to length), and age (Table 1).