Harmful Algal Information System: Event CA-95-006

General Information

Event name:	CA-95-006
Country:	CANADA
Nature of the harmful event:	Seafood toxins
Event directly affected:
Toxicity detected:	Yes (Approximate range: > 80 µg STXeq / 100 g.)
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 (PSP toxicity has been measured by the mouse bioassay technique on a regular basis since 1961 in the St. Lawrence. Algae are monitored at the coastal stations only since 1989.)
Individuals to contact:	GÉLINAS, Roger , LEVASSEUR, Maurice

Location & Date

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Location:	Latitude: , Longitude:
General location information:	various locations, Quebec Region HAB Area code(s): CA-07
Additional location information:	Harmful algae are monitored on a weekly basis at 11 stations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence since 1989. See Complementary Information.
Bloom event dates (yyyy/mm/dd):	Start: 1995-06-01, End: 1995-08-31
Quarantine levels dates (yyyy/mm/dd):
Additional date-related information:	Various times during June-August.

Microalgae

Causative organism known:	Yes
Causative Species/Genus:	Prorocentrum lima (2,600 cells/L) August 30 in Havre-aux-Maisons station Prorocentrum minimum (5,280 cells/L) August 27 in Tête à la Baleine station. Dinophysis norvegica (3,660 cells/L) June 25 in Carleton station Alexandrium tamarense (2,680 cells/L) June 12 in Penouille station Dinophysis acuminata (1,720 cells/L) August 2 in Mont-Louis station Alexandrium ostenfeldii (1,620 cells/L) June 12 in Penouille station Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima (91,306 cells/L) August 20 in Tête à la Baleine station Pseudo-nitzschia seriata (120,608 cells/L) August 15 in Ste-Flavie
Co-Ocurring Species/Genus:
Chlorophyll concentration, if known:	µg/l
Additional bloom information:	A. tamarense and A. ostenfeldii were the causative species, of the PSP effects. Eight potentially harmful species have been found at the eleven coastal stations.
Event-related bibliography:

Environmental Conditions

Weather:	1995 was atypical. The summer period was very sunny and warm with little precipitation. These special climatic conditions seem to have influenced the phytoplankton assemblage since unusually low concentrations of Alexandrium spp. and shellfish toxiciy wer	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:

In situ

Growth Comments

Additional Environmental information:

Toxin Assay Information

Species containing the toxin

Toxin type

Toxin details

Max. concentration

Assay type

Kit used:

Type of kit used:

Additional information:

Paralytic Shellfish toxins concentration have exceeded 80 µg STX equi./100 g (as determined by the mouse bioassay technique) at several stations.

Economic losses:

Management decision:

Shellfish areas with paralytic shellfish toxins concentration exceeding 80 µg STX eq/100 g (as determined by the mouse bioassay technique) were closed to harvesting during variable periods of time during summer months.

Additional harmful effect information:

Updated at 02:19 on 26 Sep 2013