National Monitoring Programme for Biotoxins in live bivalve mollusc species in Classified Production and Off-shore Areas

Abstract The Biotoxin National Monitoring Programme for the quantification of biotoxin concentrations in live bivalve molluscs (mussels, oysters, scallops, clams, cockles etc.) is an important part of statutory and EU legislative requirements in ensuring that shellfish are placed on the market are safe for human consumption. Biotoxins are naturally occurring compounds which are produced by a small number of toxigenic phytoplankton species, which due to the filter feeding nature of bivalve shellfish species, these compounds can accumulate within the shellfish tissues, whilst causing no direct harm to the shellfish, can cause a variety of human illnesses if consumed. These illnesses are often referred to as shellfish poisonings, where in Irish coastal waters, there are 4 toxin groups which can occur on an annual basis and cause temporary closures of production areas for the harvesting of shellfish if above regulatory levels (resulting in economic losses to industry), these are Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP), Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, Azaspiracid Shellfish Poisoning (AZP) and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP). Since the 1990's, the Marine Institute have been operating a monitoring programme for the detection and quantification of these toxins in bivalve species by biological and chemical methods (accredited to ISO 17025 standards) and have been publishing results of this analysis on a daily basis to competent authorities (The Food Safety Authority of Ireland and Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority) and the Irish shellfish aquaculture industry. Samples are currently taken on a weekly, fortnightly, monthly frequency basis (frequency dependent on shellfish species, type, toxin risk, time of year) from Classified Production shellfish aquaculture areas all around the Irish Coastline (up to approx. 100 production areas from Co. Louth - Co. Donegal), with a smaller number of samples taken from offshore areas. Samples are submitted to MI laboratories in Bantry and Galway for analysis where sample details, analysis and results are inputted, stored in, and generated from the Harmful Algal Blooms database (HABs - SQL Server database developed in-house), which has been in operation since 2002. These results are published from HABs and are publicly available through MI website; webapps.marine.ie/habs and are tabulated and graphed to show the occurrence, trends and patterns of HAB events, where all results from 2002 - current date can be downloaded per production area. This monitoring programme is in accordance with the relevant EU Legislation (627/2019 and 853/2204), where the results feed into the NMP for phytoplankton monitoring in Irish aquaculture production areas.