Improvements in the Epifauna of the Crouch Estuary (United Kingdom) Following a Decline in TBT Concentrations

In the United Kingdom, the use of TBT-based anti-fouling paints on small vessels was banned in 1987, and a biological study of the Crouch Estuary, a yachting centre on the south-eastern English coastline, was initiated in order to monitor any associated changes. The macrobenthic infauna and epifauna were sampled between 1987 and 1992, and again in 1997. Epifaunal sampling in 1997 showed that an earlier increase in sedentary taxa had been sustained, and also that a large population of the native oyster Ostrea edulis had become established upstream. Multivariate analysis revealed continuance of a trend towards directional change in community composition at inner estuary stations, where TBT concentrations were historically much higher. These observations, along with evidence of established populations of a range of ascidian species in the inner estuary after an initial marked increase in densities, provide circumstantial evidence of an underlying improvement in environmental conditions following the TBT ban in 1987.