Understanding the impact of chemicals on marine fish populations: the need for an integrative approach involving population and disease ecology

The impact of acute and chronic marine pollution on the population changes of individual fish remains mostly unknown. In this paper, we share our study and review similar published work, emphasising fish health monitoring in European Seas and illustrating it using case studies. Arguably, an integrative approach is needed to assess the impact on population of chemical contaminants, beginning with field observations and complemented with experimental (laboratory and mesocosm) studies and modelling. Field surveys and monitoring using fish biomarkers should be intensified and ideally integrated with population statistics and fish ecology knowledge. Moreover, the indirect effects of chemicals – altering ecosystem functions – and the monitoring of immunological biomarkers and fatal diseases in wild fish populations should receive more attention.