It’s the second straight year that a bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia, a phytoplankton that can carry toxic domoic acid, has forced a closure along large parts of the coast.
September 15, 2017 — A marine algae bloom that can carry a potentially deadly neurotoxin has forced the suspension of shellfish harvesting in parts of Down East Maine.
The state Department of Marine Resources reported Thursday that it was monitoring an active bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia, an ocean phytoplankton that carries domoic acid, a toxin that can cause sickness, memory loss and brain damage in humans. It’s the second year in a row that a toxic Pseudo-nitzschia bloom has halted harvesting of mussels, clams and oysters along large parts of the coast.
Before 2016, there was no record of a toxic bloom of this type in the Gulf of Maine.
The department’s public health section found levels of domoic acid that exceeded health standards in shellfish tested between Mount Desert Island and Gouldsboro. That area has been closed to harvesting and the department enacted a precautionary closure from Deer Isle to Machiasport, almost a third of Maine’s coastline.
Department spokesman Jeff Nichols said officials were monitoring the situation closely. There is no indication that contaminated shellfish have made their way to consumers, he said.
“It is impossible to determine at this point if the concentrations of domoic acid will increase in other areas,” Nichols said. “But we know that the phytoplankton that produces it grows rapidly, so we are carefully monitoring the entire coast and will be able to rapidly detect harmful levels of domoic acid and take action to protect the health of Maine’s shellfish consumers.”