Pending final accreditation from the federal Food and Drug Administration, Bigelow Laboratory will begin biotoxin testing for shellfish in the state of Maine early this summer. The Laboratory has signed a contract with the Maine Department of Marine Resources (MEDMR) specifying the services it will provide as part of the quantitative analysis of biotoxin concentrations in Maine’s shellfish that is mandated by law. The announcement was made at the 2013 Fishermen’s Forum in Rockland.

Testing will take place at the Bigelow Analytic Services facility (BAS) on the Laboratory’s Ocean Science and Education Campus in East Boothbay, replacing the traditional “mouse assay” that has been used by MEDMR in the past with the latest analytical approaches and instrumentation, including high-pressure liquid chromatography-post-column oxidation and triple-quadrupole mass-spectrometry. In addition to testing for the red tide biotoxin responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning, BAS staff will also analyze samples for a range of other toxins, including amnesic and diarrhetic shellfish poisons.

“Besides the very serious human health consequences of marine biotoxins, the economic impacts of harvest closures in Maine are enormous. Losses from the huge red tides in 2005 cost the state nearly $23 million,” said DMR Commissioner Pat Keliher. “Maine’s shellfish industry contributes over $60 million to the state each year, and it’s critical to improve testing efficiency and the quality of information available to stakeholders. Bigelow is able to offer that level of quality, efficiency, and confidence to our shellfish producers.”

BAS will supplement its statutory testing role by offering shellfish growers the opportunity to send samples directly to the Laboratory for independent analysis as well, streamlining the certification process for the aquaculture industry and shellfish exporters for a variety of species, including oysters, clams, mussels, and quahogs.

“The new instruments and testing methods at BAS and the expertise of our scientists will provide the shellfish industry with a significantly more precise and accurate chemical method for measuring paralytic shellfish toxins, and make it possible to expand the types of toxins that can be monitored,” said Bigelow Executive Director Dr. Graham Shimmield. “We’re also very pleased to be able to eliminate the use of live animals in marine biotoxin testing.”

BAS Director Dr. Stephen Archer welcomes the opportunity for the Laboratory to play a key role in Maine’s shellfish and aquaculture industry.

“We're eager to provide high quality analytical data with the efficiency required to really benefit the shellfish industries,” Archer said.

For more information about the Biotoxin Testing service at Bigelow Laboratory, contact BAS Manager Carlton Rauschenberg at 207-315-2567 ext. 514; carlton@bigelow.org/.