Tag: shellfish monitoring

Kenai Peninsula and Kachemak Bay Recreational Clam Harvest Results for May 2013

by Michael Opheim

The Kachemak Bay Research Reserve (KBRR) in cooperation with staff from the Ninilchik Traditional Council, Port Graham Village Council, NOAA Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, Jakolof Bay Oyster Company, Homer Fish and Game Sport Fish Division staff, have been doing a shellfish monitoring program for beaches on the Kenai Peninsula and Kachemak Bay.

The KBRR just received the May sampling of recreationally harvested shellfish on the Southern Kenai Peninsula. The collections occurred over the time period of May 10 – 27, 2013.

This year Clam Gulch was added to the monitored beaches for razor clams (north and south of the access road), blue mussel monitoring in Jakolof Bay was added, while blue mussels in Bear Cove was discontinued due to a lack of adequate numbers of specimens for collection. We hope these changes to the monitoring program will provide valuable information to recreational harvesters about the status of PSP toxins in Kenai Peninsula shellfish.

All shellfish must have less than 80 ug (micrograms) of paralytic shellfish toxin/100g of tissue to be considered safe for human consumption.

May results for Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PST) are as follows:

Clam Gulch – South beach, razor clams less than 10.0 ug/100g (Date collected: 5.27.2013)

Clam Gulch – North beach, razor clams less than 5.0ug/100g (Date collected: 5/11/2013)

Ninilchik – North beach, results yet to be determined.

Ninilchik – South beach, razor clams less than 10.0ug/100g (Date collected: 5/10/2013)

Port Graham Bay, horse clams less than 10.0 ug/100g (Date collected: 5/26/2013)

Jakolof Bay, butter clams 11.5ug/100g (Date collected: 5/24/2013)

Jakolof Bay little neck clams – insufficient number of harvestable clams could be located during this monitoring event.

Jakolof Bay blue mussels, less than 10.0ug/100g (Date collected: 5/27/2013)

China Poot Bay butter clams 8.38 ug/100g PSP (Date collected: 5/26/2013)

Homer Spit blue mussels less than 10 ug/100g PSP (Date collected: 5/25/2013)

Bear Cove, little neck clams less than 34ug/100g (Date collected: 5/23/2013)

This program is not sufficient to certify beaches as “safe” or completely ensure harvester safety from paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). All samples tested during this monitoring effort showed levels well below the 80ug/100g threshold. These results reflect only that Paralytic Shellfish Toxin levels found in samples taken during the monitoring period were safe.