About SoundToxins
SoundToxins, a diverse partnership of Washington state shellfish and finfish growers, environmental learning centers, Native tribes, and Puget Sound volunteers, is a monitoring program designed to provide early warning of harmful algal blooms and Vibrio parahaemolyticus events in order to minimize both human health risks and economic losses to Puget Sound fisheries.
Project Goals
The overall goal of this cooperative partnership is to establish a cost-effective monitoring program that will be led by state managers, tribal harvesters, and commercial fish and shellfish farmers. The SoundToxins program aims to provide sufficient warning of HAB and vibrio events to enable early or selective harvesting of seafood, thereby minimizing risks to human health and reducing economic losses to Puget Sound fisheries. The objectives of the SoundToxins program are: 1) to determine which environmental conditions promote the onset and flourishing of HABs and increased concentrations of V. parahaemolyticus; and 2) to determine which combination of environmental factors can be used for early warning of these events. To accomplish this, seawater samples are collected weekly by the participants at 11 different sites throughout Puget Sound and are analyzed for salinity, temperature, nutrients, chlorophyll, (paralytic shellfish toxins and domoic acid) phytoplankton species, and V. parahaemolyticus. Phytoplankton species diversity is described and the four target species specifically identified and enumerated are Pseudo-nitzschia species, Alexandrium catenella, Dinophysis species, and Heterosigma akashiwo.
| Monitoring Locations | Agency | |
|
(1) Sequim Bay (2) Fort Worden (3) Port Townsend (4) Mystery Bay (5) Discovery Bay (6) Dabob Bay (7) Quilcene Bay (8) Allyn/North Bay (9) Budd Inlet (10) Quartermaster Harbor (11) Manchester (12) Penn Cove (13) Port Angeles (14) East Sound |
Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) PTMSC PTMSC PTMSC Taylor Shellfish Farms, Inc. Coast Seafoods Company Washington Sea Grant Evergreen State College Vashon Island Resident NOAA/NWFSC Penn Cove Shellfish, LLC Feiro Marine Life Center Long Live the Kings - San Juan County Beach Watchers |
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| Fish Farms | American Gold Seafood / Others | |
| Mooring Locations | Agency | Parameters Measured |
|
(a) Friday Harbor (b) Strait of Juan de Fuca (c) Port Angeles (d) Sequim Bay (e) Port Townsend (f) North Buoy (g) Duckabush (h) Hoodsport (i) Twanoh (j) Manchester (k) Seattle (l) Quartermaster Harbor (m) Tacoma (n) Squaxin |
NOAA NOAA NOAA NOAA/NWFSC NOAA UW UW UW UW DOE King County DNR NOAA King County DNR UW Tacoma NOAA DOE |
T T T T, S T T, S, O, PAR* T, S, O, Chl, N* T, S, O, Chl, N, PAR* T, S, O, Chl, N, V* T, S, O, Chl T, S, O, Chl, Turb, pH, PAR T T, S, O, Chl, Turb, pH, PAR T, S T T, S, O, Chl |
Map of the Puget Sound Region
Washington State
T=temperature, S=salinity, O=dissolved oxygen, PAR=light, N=nitrate, Chl=chlorophyll, Turb=turbidity, pH=water acidity, V=horizontal velocity; *profiling mooring=sensors move up and down through the water column
Funding
Funding for the SoundToxins Project is provided by the West Coast Center for Oceans and Human Health part of the NOAA Oceans and Human Health Initiative. The WCCOHH is part of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA.