Fieldwork on the estuary of the River Crouch in Essex between 1987 (when the use of TBT antifouling on boats less than 25 m in length was banned) and 1992 revealed marked increases in the species diversity of sublittoral benthic communities in the areas which had originally been most contaminated with TBT. These increases were mirrored by a decrease in the TBT contamination of the sediments. The bivalve molluscs and amphipod crustaceans showed the most marked increases in abundance and diversity.
The estuary of the River Crouch, south-east England, as sampled annually by beam trawl between 1987 and 1989, and again in 1992. The aim of an initial transect survey was to describe and quantify the subtidal epifauna at a time of high ambient tributyltin (TBT) concentrations, arising from the use of tin-based anti-fouling paints on the hulls of moored pleasure craft. Subsequent surveys at representative stations sought to examine the progress of any changes with time in animal populations in relation to a decline in concentrations of TBT in the environment, following a ban on the use of tin-based paints for smaller vessels in July 1987.
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