Texas Fish Consumption Advisory Program Standard Operating Procedures Field Operations and Data Quality Department of State Health Services Seafood and Aquatic Life Group Survey Team March 2016 Table of Contents LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................... 4 1.0 MISSION..................................................................................................................... 7 2.0 PURPOSE .................................................................................................................... 7 3.0 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 7 4.0 STUDY DESIGN ........................................................................................................... 8 4.1 STUDY OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................... 9 4.2 SITE SELECTION .................................................................................................................... 9 4.3 TARGET SPECIES AND SIZE CLASS SELECTION .............................................................................. 9 4.4 SAMPLE TYPE .................................................................................................................... 15 4.5 TARGET ANALYTE SELECTION ................................................................................................ 15 4.6 SAMPLE COLLECTION PERIOD ............................................................................................... 16 4.7 SAMPLE SIZES .................................................................................................................... 16 5.0 SAMPLE COLLECTION ................................................................................................ 16 5.1 SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION PERMIT ............................................................................................ 16 5.2 METHODS OF COLLECTION ................................................................................................... 17 5.2.1 Electrofishing............................................................................................................. 17 5.2.2 Gill Netting ................................................................................................................ 19 5.2.3 Juglines ...................................................................................................................... 20 5.2.4 Crab Traps ................................................................................................................. 20 5.2.5 Oyster Dredge ........................................................................................................... 21 5.3 SAMPLING GEAR IDENTIFICATION TAG .................................................................................... 22 6.0 SAMPLE COLLECTION DATA REQUIREMENTS & DOCUMENTATION ............................ 23 6.1 RECORDING DATA .............................................................................................................. 23 7.0 SAMPLE PROCESSING, HANDLING, AND STORAGE PROCEDURES ............................... 27 7.1 SAMPLE HANDLING PRECAUTIONS ......................................................................................... 27 7.2 FISH FILLET SAMPLE PROCESSING, HANDLING, AND STORAGE ..................................................... 28 7.4 CRAB SAMPLE PROCESSING, HANDLING, AND STORAGE ............................................................. 31 7.5 SHRIMP, CRAWFISH, AND PRAWN SAMPLE PROCESSING, HANDLING, AND STORAGE ....................... 31 7.6 OYSTER, CLAM, AND MUSSEL SAMPLE PROCESSING, HANDLING, AND STORAGE ............................. 31 8.0 TISSUE SAMPLE HOLDING TIMES .............................................................................. 32 9.0 CHAIN-OF-CUSTODY AND TISSUE SAMPLE COURIER SERVICE PROCEDURES ............... 32 9.1 CHAIN-OF-CUSTODY PROCEDURES ........................................................................................ 32 9.2 TISSUE SAMPLE COURIER SERVICE PROCEDURES ....................................................................... 34 10.0 PROJECT AND DATA MANAGEMENT ......................................................................... 35 10.1 PROJECT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT .................................................................................. 35 Page | 2 10.2 DATA MANAGEMENT .......................................................................................................... 37 10.3 DATA QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL (QA/QC) .................................................. 37 11.0 DATA QUALIFICATION, USE, AND ANALYSIS .............................................................. 40 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................ 41 APPENDIX A.1: TARGET ANALYTE LIST AND MEASUREMENT PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS ........................ 42 APPENDIX A.2: TPWD COLLECTION PERMIT NOTIFICATION EMAIL ......................................................... 65 APPENDIX A.3: SAMPLE COLLECTION GEAR SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................... 66 APPENDIX A.4: FIELD DATA FORMS ................................................................................................... 69 APPENDIX A.5: WATER BODY CODES FOR TEXAS WATERS ..................................................................... 71 APPENDIX A.6: SPECIES CODE LISTS................................................................................................... 74 APPENDIX A.7: CHAIN-OF-CUSTODY RECORD FORM ............................................................................. 76 APPENDIX A.8: DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN ........................................................................................ 77 APPENDIX A.9: DATA REVIEW FORM ................................................................................................. 80 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 82 Page | 3 LIST OF ACRONYMS ATMP Air Temperature cfs Cubic Feet per Second CL Clear cm Centimeter COC Chain-of Custody CPR Cardiopulmonary Resusitation CRRL Contract Required Reporting Limit CT Crab Trap CWA Clean Water Act CY Cloudy dd Two Digit Day dd Two Digit Day DSHS Department of State Health Services E East EPA Environmental Protection Agency ES Electrofishing F Female FG Fog FL Fork Length FSAS Fish Sampling Advisory Subcommittee ft Feet g Gram GERG Geochemical and Environmental Research Group GN Gill Net GSMFC Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission HL Hook and Line HZ Hazy in Inch IT Incoming Tide JL Jug Line kg Kilogram LAT Latitude lb Pound LONG Longitude LOQ Limits of Quantitation M Male µS Microsiemens mm Millimeter mm Two Digit Month msl Mean sea level N North N No Page | 4 LIST OF ACRONYMS CONT. ND Not Detected NE Northeast NW Northwest OD Oyster Dredge OT Outgoing Tide PC Partly Cloudy PCB Polychlorinated Biphenyl PCDD Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxin PCDF Polychlorinated Dibenzofuran PM Project Manager PO Purchase Order POC Point of Contact ppt Parts per Thousand PQL Practical Quantitation Limit PVC Polyvinyl Chloride QA Quality Assurance QAO Quality Assurance Officer QAP Quality Assurance Plan QAPP Quality Assurance Project Plan QC Quality Control RIVDIS River Discharge RIVSTG River Stage RL Reporting Limit RN Rain RPD Relative Percent Difference RSVRELV Reservoir Elevation S South SAL Salinity SALG Seafood and Aquatic Life Group SE Southeast SFT Sport-Fishing Tournament SOP Standard Operating Procedure SpCOND Specific Conductance SRM Standard Reference Material ST Slack Tide SVOC Semivolatile Organic Compound SW Southwest TIDE Tidal Movement TL Trotline TL Total Length TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load TPWD Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Page | 5 LIST OF ACRONYMS CONT. TSCC Toxic Substances Coordinating Committee USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service USGS United States Geological Survey VOC Volatile Organic Compound W West WDIR Wind Direction WSPD Wind Speed WTMP Water Temperature WX Weather Y Yes yy Two Digit Year Page | 6 1.0 Mission The mission of the Seafood and Aquatic Life Group (SALG) Survey Team is to protect consumers and recreational fishers from disease or chemical contaminants found in fish and other aquatic organisms harvested from Texas' reservoirs, rivers, estuaries, near shore state waters, and offshore federal waters. 2.0 Purpose The goal of the Seafood and Aquatic Life Group Survey Team is to provide data that are scientifically valid, legally defensible, and of known precision and accuracy for characterizing public health risks associated with the consumption of fish, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms (e.g., frogs) and making sound risk management decisions to communicate risks effectively to consumers. 3.0 Introduction Chemical contamination of aquatic resources has occurred since the Industrial Revolution began in the early 1800s. Environmental concentrations of chemical contaminants have increased from the time of the Industrial Revolution to today due to intensifying urbanization, industrial development, and use of new agricultural chemicals.1 In 1948, the first major U.S. law to address water pollution was implemented. It was known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948.2 Increased awareness of aquatic pollution along with