The Southeast Alaska Tribal Toxins (SEATT) partnership has been collecting phytoplankton samples throughout southeast Alaska to monitor for plankton species that can produce toxins and cause human health effects, specifically paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP).
Samples on June 1 confirmed elevated levels of Alexandrium, the phytoplankton species that produces saxtoxins causing PSP. It has been observed at the following locations and shellfish from these sites should not be harvested at this time: Petersburg’s Sandy Beach; Juneau’s Auke Bay, Amalga Harbor, Eagle Beach and Point Louisa; Craig’s Cloud 9, Graveyard; Sitka’s Starrigavan Beach; Klawock’s boat ramp.
Sampling updates will be available on the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research website, www.seator.org.