Overview
- Monthly sampling of volandeira started on February 23 and will run for one year to track lead levels through the reproductive cycle.
- Researchers plan an intensive size-range survey in February and a May campaign collecting sediments and specimens for stable isotope source attribution.
- Weekly water sampling has been underway since January, complemented by metal-accumulator sensors installed on bateas for year-round monitoring.
- Scientists are testing whether species-specific physiology that stores lead in renal granules, combined with legacy industrial pollution, explains the elevated levels seen in Vigo but not in other bivalves.
- The project is led by IEO-CSIC with IIM-CSIC, INTECMAR and Universidade de Vigo, financed by the Xunta with 70% co-funding from the EU’s FEMPA, and executed in close collaboration with local fishing cofradías to support a potential reopening of the fishery.