SANTA CRUZ – Shellfish along California’s coast just can’t seem to catch a break.
Toxins from marine algae shut down the popular Dungeness crab season last year, and now a new study shows freshwater algae toxins could also find their way into coastal waters and marine shellfish.
Scientists at UC Santa Cruz have detected high levels of the freshwater toxin in mussels from San Francisco Bay. Water streams can carry the toxin out to sea, where it can contaminate marine shellfish. While agencies regularly test shellfish for marine toxins, they do not always include tests for this freshwater toxin called microcystin.
Slimy populations of the blue-green algae that make the toxin have been thriving in the warming water bodies of California. These include the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, which flow into the San Francisco Bay, and also many lakes in the Bay Area.
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