Mussel Watch Program

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Status and Trends (NS&T) Mussel Watch Program is a contaminant monitoring program that started in 1986. It is the longest running continuous contaminant monitoring program of its kind in the United States. Mussel Watch monitors the concentration of contaminants in bivalves (mussels and oysters) and sediments in the coastal waters of the U.S., including the Great Lakes, to monitor bivalve health and by extension the health of their local and regional environment.

Mussel Watch consults with experts to determine appropriate contaminants to monitor; these include dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). As of 2008, Mussel Watch monitors approximately 140 analytes. In addition to the effects of contaminants, Mussel Watch is able to assess the effects of natural disasters, such as the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, and environmental disasters, such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Data collected by Mussel Watch can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of coastal remediation. The Mussel Watch Program utilized its 20 years of monitoring data to effectively analyze the impacts of Hurricane Katrina and has affected regulatory decisions based on the data it has collected on bivalve parasites.

NOAA describes the goal of Mussel Watch as “to support ecosystem-based management through an integrated nationwide program of environmental monitoring, assessment and research to describe the status and trends of our nation’s estuaries and coasts." Mussel Watch is a program that monitors the health of bivalves, mussels and clams for contaminants along the coasts of the United States. This program was launched in 1986 and since then is the longest government-run monitoring program that has national influence. It was made in response to a legislative mandate to preserve the marine environment. In 2008 they released an assessment of their data from 1986 through 2005. In this report, concentrations of many different metals and organic pollutants are shown over the two decades of data collection. Using this set of data, trends can be identified for different coastal areas. Starting in 2000, the scientists that NOAA sent out to collect the mussels changed companies and the Mussel Watch program began employing citizen scientists to collect the mussels; this approach saved a good deal of money for the program. This can be seen on the local level in Washington State where The Snohomish County’s Natural Marine Resources Committee coordinated with the Mussel Watch program in 2007 to employ citizens to collect samples from the nearshore water Snohomish County. In 2010 and 2012 Western Washington University students assisted Whatcom County Public Works. Mussel Watch originally monitored areas known for contamination where data would be easily found and monitored for trends in the toxicity data. Now the focus is to shift to areas of concern directed by organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Instead of focusing just on trends in the data Mussel Watch is looking to see if a given policy has actually made a positive impact on a specific environment.

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