psp

While blue mussels are a traditional source of subsistence food in Unalaska, in recent years, reduced numbers and concerns about paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, have limited the amount locals can safely harvest.

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.

KUCB's Hope McKenney sits down for a discussion with the Qawalangin Tribe’s new resilience project manager.

Alaska state and local health officials are warning of dangerously high levels of toxins in shellfish, after a person died of paralytic shellfish…

Blue mussels and snails (whelks) collected from Unalaska Bay on July 4 registered nearly three times the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Paralytic…