Using Physiological Techniques to Quantify Impacts of Thermal Stressors in Fish

Regulatory agencies are often concerned about the negative impacts of external perturbations on fish populations or aquatic communities.  In many instances, however, changes observed at the population or community level result from changes to individuals within that population or community, making it crucial to understand the impacts of external stressors on individual fish.  The past several decades have seen tremendous advances in our ability to quantify stress and perturbations in individual fish, both in a controlled laboratory setting as well as in the wild.  The current presentation will summarize several recent advances in technology that permit an improved understanding of thermal stressors on individual fish, allowing an innovative understanding of the impacts of thermal discharge on fish populations.