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General Information

Event name: US-94-018
Country: UNITED STATES
Nature of the harmful event:
 Seafood toxins
Event directly affected:
Toxicity detected: Yes
Associated syndrome: PSP
Unexplained toxicity: No
Species implicated in toxin transmission (transvector):
Report the outcome of a monitoring programme: Yes
Event occurred before in this location: Yes (The last Oregon PSP alert began on 25 September 1991 on the central beaches in mussels, peaking at 150 µg/100g and declining to less than 50 µg/100g by October 1991.)
Individuals to contact: CANNON, Deborah F.

Location & Date

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Location: Latitude: 44.400000, Longitude:
General location information: Clatsop Beaches., Oregon.
HAB Area code(s): US-22
Additional location information: Oregon coast from Cape Lookout near Netarts to the Columbia River (approximately 44.4-46.7º N). This area is called the Clatsop Beaches.
Bloom event dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Quarantine levels dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Additional date-related information: Toxicity in shellfish began in August 1992. Mussels peaked at 4365 µg/100g in September 1992 and did not drop below detection until may 1993. Razor clams were 298 µg/100 g in late October 1993. Older, bigger clams had higher PSP tahn younger ones. PSP in raqor clams still 38-60 µg/100g in December 1994.

Microalgae

Causative organism known: No
Causative Species/Genus: Alexandrium catenella ( cells/L)
Not confirmed.
Co-Ocurring Species/Genus:
Chlorophyll concentration, if known: µg/l
Additional bloom information:
Event-related bibliography:

Environmental Conditions

Weather: Turbidity (NTU): Wind direction:
Stratified water: No Oxygen content (nL/L): Wind velocity:
Temperature (°C): Oxygen saturation %: Current Direction:
Sechhi disk (m): Salinity: Current Velocity: 0
Nutrient information:
Temperature Range During Event: Max: °C, Min: °C
Salinity Range During Event:
Bloom location in the water column:
Growth:
Growth Comments Not known.
Additional Environmental information:

Toxin Assay Information

Species containing the toxin Toxin type Toxin details Max. concentration Assay type
Mussels (Sept 1992) Saxitoxins 4,365 Bioassay-Mouse
Razor clams (Oct.1993) Saxitoxins 298 Bioassay-Mouse
Razor clams (Dec. 1994) Saxitoxins 38-60 Bioassay-Mouse
Kit used: No Type of kit used:
Additional information:
Economic losses:
Management decision: Commercial and recreational harvest of razor clams was reopened on Clatsop Beaches on 1 November for the first time since November 1991.
Additional harmful effect information: Processing of razor clams for food slowly returning. Tourist facilities hurt because no clam diggers for three years (PSP and domoic acid). Intesified testing of razor clams has also increased costs of collection and laboratory testing for the Shellfish P