First evidence of persistent organic contaminants as potential anthropogenic stressors in the Barndoor Skate Dipturus laevis.

Although exploited populations of elasmobranchs may be able to recover from fishing pressure, there is little information regarding the Barndoor Skate's ability to cope with other anthropogenic stressors such as organic contaminants (OCs). Legacy OCs were measured in liver, muscle and ova from fourteen Barndoor Skates with mature skates having significantly greater mean concentrations of OCs than immature skates, demonstrating bioaccumulation with age. Using Toxic Equivalency Factors, skates were found to have levels of PCBs that have been shown to elicit negative physiological responses in other fishes and these results highlight the need for future studies to investigate the potential impacts that bioaccumulated organic contaminants have on the recovery and conservation of this vulnerable species.