Winter in Unalaska by Sam Zmolek
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Rachel Cassandra / AKPM

  • High levels of the toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning showed up in samples of shellfish last year from the Aleutian Islands, according to an analysis by the Knik Tribe. The Southcentral Alaska tribe’s scientists looked at shellfish samples from Sand Point collected in 2023, and some showed levels of the biotoxin almost 50 times higher than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recommended limit. The Knik Tribe’s analysis of samples from Juneau, Kodiak, King Cove and Chignik Lagoon also showed some had levels of PSP toxin higher than the FDA’s cutoff.