| Oceanography > Issues > Archive > Volume 18 > Issue 2 |
2005, Oceanography 18(2):228–237, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2005.56
Monitoring Approaches for Early Warning of Domoic Acid Events in Washington State
Authors | First Paragraph | Full Article | Citation
Authors
Vera L. Trainer | Harmful Algal Blooms Research Group, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, Seattle, WA, USA
Marc Suddleson | Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms Program, Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research, NOAA Ocean Service, Silver Spring, MD, USA
First Paragraph
On the U.S. west coast, blooms of the potentially toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), resulting in economic impacts to coastal economies and public health concerns. The transfer of toxin, via filter feeding of Pseudo-nitzschia or ingestion of filter feeding organisms, to shellfish, crustaceans, seabirds, finfish, and marine mammals has led to mortalities of brown pelicans, Brandt's cormorants, and sea lions. A unique problem on the outer coast of the Olympic peninsula in Washington State, is that the Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula (Figure 1), can retain high concentrations of the algal toxin, domoic acid (DA), for over one year (Wekell et al., 1994; Adams et al., 2000). During toxic events, recreational, commercial, and tribal subsistence harvest of clams, valued at over $20 million annually (Anderson, 1995), is suspended and public health is threatened.
Full Article
Citation
Trainer, V.L., and M. Suddleson. 2005. Monitoring approaches for early warning of domoic acid events in Washington state. Oceanography 18(2):228–237, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2005.56.