Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) Monitoring

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) Monitoring

Butter clam sample from Near Island North Trident Basin.

See the table below for recent PSP levels on Kodiak at Near Island, North Trident Basin. This table will be updated frequently.

Date Collected Species PSP Result (ug/100g)
2/10/2017 Butter clam 134
3/29/2017 Butter clam 91
4/28/2017 Butter clam 154
5/29/2017 Butter clam 100
6/26/2017 Butter clam 140
7/24/2017 Butter clam 101
8/22/2017 Butter clam 183
9/20/2017 Butter clam 187
10/08/2017 Butter clam 141
11/05/2017 Butter clam 106
12/04/2017 Butter clam 79
1/03/2018 Butter clam 107
2/01/2018 Butter clam 114
3/01/2018 Butter clam 84
3/20/2019 Butter clam 86
4/21/2019 Butter clam 89
5/21/2019 Butter clam 148
6/18/2019 Butter clam 145
7/03/2019 Butter clam 131
8/01/2019 Butter clam 155
9/01/2019 Butter clam 128
10/28/2019 Butter clam 181
11/26/2019 Butter clam 119
12/26/2019 Butter clam 204
1/12/2020 Butter clam 108
2/07/2020 Butter clam 24
3/09/2020 Butter clam 84
4/09/2020 Butter clam 130
5/08/2020 Butter clam 109
6/04/2020 Butter clam 167
7/07/2020 Butter clam 210
8/19/2020 Butter clam 136
9/17/2020 Butter clam 148
10/16/2020 Butter clam 55
11/16/2020 Butter clam 91
12/14/2020 Butter clam 21
1/12/2021 Butter clam 78
2/10/2021 Butter clam 55
3/10/2021 Butter clam 46
4/10/2021 Butter clam 81
5/12/2021 Butter clam 72
6/23/2021 Butter clam 124
7/26/2021 Butter clam 84
8/23/2021 Butter clam 46
9/20/2021 Butter clam 69

Historically, Kodiak Island has had elevated levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP), an illness caused by eating shellfish contaminated with toxins from a harmful algal bloom. These toxins can cause neurological symptoms and may lead to respiratory arrest.

Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak is collaborating with two organizations to learn more about the PSP levels in butter clams within the city of Kodiak. In 2016, Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak started digging butter clams on Near Island as part of a collaborative effort with Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program. These clams are collected, shucked and then frozen. The samples are then sent to North Carolina for analysis.

In 2017, Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak started collaborating with the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research (SEATOR, http://www.seator.org/) to learn more about the PSP levels in the city of Kodiak. Butter clams are collected and shipped whole to SEATOR, where they are analyzed in the lab using a receptor binding assay test. In 2019, Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak started collaborating with Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA) to learn more about PSP levels on the Kodiak Road System. Thanks to KANA for shipping clams from our sampling site to SEATOR for analysis.

Please see the following materials from SEATOR for more information on PSP:

PSP Fact Sheet

Harmful Alaskan Algal Species