8. Alexandrium in Spring Bay
Alexandrium sp. in Spring Bay
2000
Alexandrium cf catenella
1600
Alexandrium minutum
1400
1200
Alexandrium ostenfeldii
1000
800
Alexandrium cf tamarense
600
A. tamarense Group IV
400
200
Closure level pending flesh results
(500 cells/l)
Date
17/10/2012
17/10/2011
17/10/2010
17/10/2009
17/10/2008
17/10/2007
17/10/2006
17/10/2005
17/10/2004
17/10/2003
17/10/2002
0
17/10/2001
Cell count (cells/l)
1800
9. Delayed detection
•
•
•
14/10/2012 & 21/10/2012 algal samples taken by SBS (following
prescribed sampling plan at time - just moved to fortnightly) sampling.
Results delayed at lab, not reported until 30/10/12.
29/10/12. Biotoxins first detected by the Japanese import testing
program from a harvest dated 21/10/2012
30/10/2012. Late evening PST confirmed as over Japanese health limit –
in mouse units.
–
–
•
•
Growing area closed
SBS advised that product may need to be recalled
31/10/2012 – confirmed Japanese level over FSANZ limit
– Withdrawal of mussels begins
1/11/2012 – confirmed PST in shellfish by AAA
–
Formal recall initiated by SBS
10. The causative organism
• Alexandrium tamarense – not seen previously
in the bivalve monitoring program in
Tasmania, and not normally toxic in Tasmania
• Offshore bloom affecting the whole east coast
• highly potent toxins
12. Alexandrium tamarense
•
•
•
•
A. tamarense not seen in waters samples from the
monitoring program in 12 years of sampling.
Normally non-toxic in Tasmania, but is listed in the
biotoxin management plan
One incidence of an A. tamarense culture from a
toxic cyst originating in Triabunna by Dr. Chris Bolch
(University of Tasmania), however the culture was
lost before the identity could be confirmed
Toxin profile very different to Gymnodinium
catenatum our normal resident PST producer
16. Illness reports
•
15 people reported illness and were followed
up
•
No recall associated cases of PSP were
identified
•
No clinically referred cases
•
2 possible cases were identified, non-recall
related, with other pre-existing medical
conditions that present with similar symptoms.
17. Impact spreads
•
Closures occurred in all
growing areas on the east
coast
•
Also found further south in
many growing areas in low
numbers and on west coast of
Tasmania
•
Combined with a
Gymnodinium catenatum in
the south-east
19. Multiple fisheries affected
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Multiple closures at multiple sites in mussel, oyster and clam
industries
Abalone industry and scallop industry advised to stop fishing
2/11/2012 pending test results
Abalone voluntary closure 2/11/12 – 13/12/12
Scallops formally closed 13/11/12. Not re-opened.
Commercial rock lobster season opening delayed from early
November 2012 until 9/2/13
PST not significant levels: abalone, periwinkles, seaurchins, squid, flathead, banded morwong
PST detected: oysters, clams, scallops, mussels, rock lobster, giant
crab from 300m deep
21. People Involved
DHHS Environmental Health Unit and Communicable Diseases Protection
Unit: Roscoe Taylor, Mark Veitch, Stuart Heggie, Eric Johnson, Stewart
Quinn, Rosalind Harrison, Michelle Green, Angela Russel, David
Coleman, Sally Griggs, Ian Duthie
DPIPWE Fisheries: Wes Ford, Rob Gott, Grant Pullen, Hilary Revill, John
Preston,
IMAS: Caleb Gardner, Rafael Leon (IMAS)
Industry – Oysters, Mussels, Clams, Scallops, Rock
Lobster, Abalone, Periwinkles, Sea-Urchins, Tasmanian Seafood Industry
Council
DAFF Lynda Feazey, Nora Galway, Shelley Alderman, Taryn Rowley
Labs: Analytical Services Tasmania, Advanced Analytical Australia
Researchers: Cath McLeod, Gustaaf Hallegraeff, Chris Bolch, Shauna Murray
22. Main PST offenders in Australia
Alexandrium catenella
A. minutum
A. ostenfeldii
A. tamarense
– Difficult to identify, range
of toxicities
Gymnodinium catenatum
Image - A.Vaquer
Image D. Thomas
28. Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
• Symptoms
– Mild: tingling lips, prickling
extremities, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea
– Moderate; tingling extremities, muscle weakness, lack of coordination, incoherent speech, floating sensation, mild respiratory
difficulty
– Severe: muscle and limb paralysis, pronounced respiratory
difficulty, death by respiratory paralysis
• Epidemiology (mostly rec harvest)
– Approx 7 cases from Tas
– 20 people Bay of Plenty NZ 2012
– 2000 cases worldwide per year, 15% mortality
29. Changes to Biotoxin Monitoring in
Tasmania
•
Paradigm shift in Tasmania
–
–
Potential offshore origin
–
•
Highly toxic species
Cyst bed on east and south-east coasts
Increase in baseline monitoring
–
Weekly algal monitoring
–
Weekly/Fortnightly toxin monitoring
•
Tighter controls around laboratory turn-around times
•
State-wide biotoxin monitoring program for other fisheries will be
progressed
30. ASQAAC Issues
• TSQAP was compliant with ASQAAC guidance on
biotoxins
• Need to strengthen the requirements in ASQAAC
• Review conducted in 2001 needs to be
implemented
• Now possible with lab biotoxin facilities in
Australia
31. FRDC research project
• Looking at A. tamarense in Tasmania
• Tools to identify
• Cyst surveys
• Environmental preferences
• Potential screening tests for biotoxins
• Management of other fisheries
Hinweis der Redaktion
I thought I’d start the workshop off with some media images of last years event in Tasmania, just to highlight the impact marine biotoxins can have in fisheries.Daryl first asked me to convene this workshop, he made some very pertinent observations, he said “what other issue has the ability to close a regional fishery down overnight? What other issue can keep the boats out of a productive zone, at peak sales period, with no idea when they will be able to get back in?” SMarine biotoxins are a big deal for your fishery, and I guess the aim of todays workshop is to give you a bit of back ground about them, and then to answer as many of your questions as we can.
Produced by micro-algae, mostly a group of algae called dinoflagellatesThey concentrate in bivalve molluscs through the filter feeding. We don’t know alot about the uptake mechanism in RL but it also likely to be through the trophic chain i.e. Through their food sourceThe four main groups are named after the symptoms they produce
Produced by micro-algae, mostly a group of algae called dinoflagellatesThey concentrate in bivalve molluscs through the filter feeding. We don’t know alot about the uptake mechanism in RL but it also likely to be through the trophic chain i.e. Through their food sourceThe four main groups are named after the symptoms they produce
Produced by micro-algae, mostly a group of algae called dinoflagellatesThey concentrate in bivalve molluscs through the filter feeding. We don’t know alot about the uptake mechanism in RL but it also likely to be through the trophic chain i.e. Through their food sourceThe four main groups are named after the symptoms they produce
Produced by micro-algae, mostly a group of algae called dinoflagellatesThey concentrate in bivalve molluscs through the filter feeding. We don’t know alot about the uptake mechanism in RL but it also likely to be through the trophic chain i.e. Through their food sourceThe four main groups are named after the symptoms they produce
Produced by micro-algae, mostly a group of algae called dinoflagellatesThey concentrate in bivalve molluscs through the filter feeding. We don’t know alot about the uptake mechanism in RL but it also likely to be through the trophic chain i.e. Through their food sourceThe four main groups are named after the symptoms they produce
Produced by micro-algae, mostly a group of algae called dinoflagellatesThey concentrate in bivalve molluscs through the filter feeding. We don’t know alot about the uptake mechanism in RL but it also likely to be through the trophic chain i.e. Through their food sourceThe four main groups are named after the symptoms they produce
Produced by micro-algae, mostly a group of algae called dinoflagellatesThey concentrate in bivalve molluscs through the filter feeding. We don’t know alot about the uptake mechanism in RL but it also likely to be through the trophic chain i.e. Through their food sourceThe four main groups are named after the symptoms they produce
Produced by micro-algae, mostly a group of algae called dinoflagellatesThey concentrate in bivalve molluscs through the filter feeding. We don’t know alot about the uptake mechanism in RL but it also likely to be through the trophic chain i.e. Through their food sourceThe four main groups are named after the symptoms they produce
I don’t really want to go into all the closures, other than to point out to anyone who may have been away at the time and didn’t hear the news, that closures where wide spread, and have been estimated and around $5 $7 million dollars across all sectors.
I’m not going to go into the detail of this slide either. This is a graph of cell numbers and toxin levels on the east coast.The important things to note are that the PST level is on this side, the closure line or the maximum allowable level is the red line. Mussels are in blue, and rock lobster in yellow. So the rock lobster hepatopancreas did reach significant toxicity, and stayed high for much longer than the mussels
Here are the main offenders in Australia, there are a couple of others in NZ as wellThey are extremely difficult to identify under light microscopy, and even if you do get the species right, sometimes that doesn’t help because sometimes the same species can exist in toxic and non-toxic forms
Pictures here of what red-tides look like. They don’t all reach this level of course, in fact normally the toxins build up to dangerous levels in the seafood well before the bloom is visible.
One of the big issues with these types of dinoflagellates is that they can encyst. The bloom away happily when conditions for growth are good, and then when conditions become unfavourable they go through a sexual reproduction stage where they form cystsCysts are highly resistant and can last for years in the sediments until conditions are right and they germinate again, potentially causing another bloom.After an event like last years there will be cyst beds up and down the east coast that could cause issues for years to come. On the other hand they may stay dormant and not cause any problems again.
PST producing dinoflagellates are well known in Australia and New Zealand through the bivalve monitoring programsThey cause closures in the main three oyster producing states
