Second Bight ’18 Sediment Quality assessment report published

The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has published the second of its Sediment Quality assessment reports, and two others are undergoing internal review later this summer.

The Bight ’18 Sediment Chemistry report, published in July, found that 79% of sediment Bight-wide is considered to produce minimal to low chemical contamination exposure levels – a finding that has remained relatively consistent over the past 15 years. Only 3% of sediment Bight-wide is in the worst, or high exposure, category.

While offshore areas generally had lower exposure levels, estuaries and marinas are the embayment strata with the greatest portion of sediment classified as producing high chemical contamination exposure levels.

The technical committees for two other Bight ’18 Sediment Quality assessment reports – “Bioaccumulation in Sportfish” and “Trawl-Caught Fish and Invertebrates” – are meeting later this summer to review draft reports.

The first Bight ’18 assessment report, Sediment Toxicity, was published in April.