Onboard screening dockside testing as a new means of managing paralytic shellfish poisoning risks in federally closed waters

DeGrasse, Stacey L.; Conrad, S.; DiStefano, Paul; Vanegas, Camilo; Wallace, David H.; Jensen, Pete; Hickey, J. Michael; Cenci, Florence; Pitt, Jaclyn; Deardorff, Dave; Rubio, Fernando; Easy, Dorothy J.; Donovan, Maryanne; Laycock, M. V.; Rouse, Debbie; Mullen, John K.

doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.01.036

Cited by 16 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Georges Bank has been closed to shellfish harvesting since 1990, with the exception of scallop adductor muscles which do not accumulate PSP toxins, due to the unpredictable nature of toxicity at depth in this region coupled with a lack of resources for adequate monitoring and testing in these federally-managed waters (DeGrasse et al, this 2014a, 2014b). Due to overfishing in adjacent open areas such as the nearshore area of Nantucket Shoals to the west, and both overfishing and population declines due to factors such as disease in the Mid-Atlantic Bight to the south (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1), there has been substantial pressure from industry in recent years to re-open portions of Georges Bank to harvesting of surf clams. In addition, requests have been made to allow the harvesting of roe-on scallops (scallop adductor muscle with the viscera removed but the gonad still attached) (DeGrasse et al, 2014a, 2014b). This product is highly valued in certain markets.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shellfish in the offshore region of Georges Bank do become toxic (DeGrasse et al, 2014a, 2014b and references therein) but additional research needs to be done to determine if toxicity in the 20–64 μm size fraction, coupled with measurements of vertical water column mixing, could be a useful predictor of shellfish toxicity for this region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Georges Bank and other continental shelf waters of southern New England are the site of a large (> 25,000 t annually) and lucrative (> $300 million USD annually) offshore shellfishery, based primarily on sea scallop ( Placopecten magellanicus ) adductor muscles (Stokesbury et al, 2011, and references therein; DeGrasse et al, 2014a, 2014b; McGillicuddy et al, 2014). These offshore areas also support extensive stocks of other shellfish resources that are currently unexploited due to insufficient PSP monitoring and a lack of understanding of the mechanisms of toxin delivery to offshore shellfish at depth (DeGrasse et al, 2014a, 2014b). In August of 1989, an emergency closure of shellfish resources on Georges Bank was prompted by PSP toxicity levels in surfclams ( Spisula solidissima ) harvested from southern Georges Bank that far exceeded the regulatory standard for safe human consumption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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PSP toxin levels and plankton community composition and abundance in size-fractionated vertical profiles during spring/summer blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank, 2007, 2008, and 2010: 1. Toxin levels

Deeds

Petitpas

Shue

et al. 2014

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

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As part of the NOAA ECOHAB funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX)1 project, we determined Alexandrium fundyense abundance, paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin composition, and concentration in quantitatively-sampled size-fractionated (20–64, 64–100, 100–200, 200–500, and > 500 μm) particulate water samples, and the community composition of potential grazers of A. fundyense in these size fractions, at multiple depths (typically 1, 10, 20 m, and near-bottom) during 10 large-scale sampling cruises during the A. fundyense bloom season (May–August) in the coastal Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank in 2007, 2008, and 2010. Our findings were as follows: (1) when all sampling stations and all depths were summed by year, the majority (94% ± 4%) of total PSP toxicity was contained in the 20–64 μm size fraction; (2) when further analyzed by depth, the 20–64 μm size fraction was the primary source of toxin for 97% of the stations and depths samples over three years; (3) overall PSP toxin profiles were fairly consistent during the three seasons of sampling with gonyautoxins (1, 2, 3, and 4) dominating (90.7% ± 5.5%), followed by the carbamate toxins saxitoxin (STX) and neosaxitoxin (NEO) (7.7% ± 4.5%), followed by n-sulfocarbamoyl toxins (C1 and 2, GTX5) (1.3% ± 0.6%), followed by all decarbamoyl toxins (dcSTX, dcNEO, dcGTX2&3) (< 1%), although differences were noted between PSP toxin compositions for nearshore coastal Gulf of Maine sampling stations compared to offshore Georges Bank sampling stations for 2 out of 3 years; (4) surface cell counts of A. fundyense were a fairly reliable predictor of the presence of toxins throughout the water column; and (5) nearshore surface cell counts of A. fundyense in the coastal Gulf of Maine were not a reliable predictor of A. fundyense populations offshore on Georges Bank for 2 out of the 3 years sampled.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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PSP toxin levels and plankton community composition and abundance in size-fractionated vertical profiles during spring/summer blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank, 2007, 2008, and 2010: 1. Toxin levels

Deeds

Petitpas

Shue

et al. 2014

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

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“…Recognition of the long-term persistence of PSTs in surfclams on Georges Bank (White et al, 1993) and the difficulties of monitoring this offshore resource led to the closure being extended indefinitely, and it was expanded to include ocean quahogs, mussels, and all parts of sea scallops except for the adductor muscle. Only recently has the Georges Bank surfclam fishery become accessible on a limited basis under an onboard screening and dockside testing protocol (DeGrasse et al, submitted), in concert with a research program (GOMTOX 1 ) focused on understanding the heretofore uncharacterized blooms of A. fundyense on Georges Bank.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Georges Bank: A leaky incubator of Alexandrium fundyense blooms

McGillicuddy

Townsend

Keafer

et al. 2014

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

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A series of oceanographic surveys on Georges Bank document variability of populations of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense on time scales ranging from synoptic to seasonal to interannual. Blooms of A. fundyense on Georges Bank can reach concentrations on the order of 104 cells l−1, and are generally bank-wide in extent. Georges Bank populations of A. fundyense appear to be quasi-independent of those in the adjacent coastal Gulf of Maine, insofar as they occupy a hydrographic niche that is colder and saltier than their coastal counterparts. In contrast to coastal populations that rely on abundant resting cysts for bloom initiation, very few cysts are present in the sediments on Georges Bank. Bloom dynamics must therefore be largely controlled by the balance between growth and mortality processes, which are at present largely unknown for this population. Based on correlations between cell abundance and nutrient distributions, ammonium appears to be an important source of nitrogen for A. fundyense blooms on Georges Bank.

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