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Government

Washington State Department of Health Shellfish Program

The Washington State Department of Health (WDOH) shellfish program has the mission to protect public health and prevent illness in people who eat molluscan shellfish, which include clams, mussels, and oysters. WDOH's goal is to ensure that shellfish are safe to eat and that people have easy access to information needed for the safe harvesting of shellfish. The WDOH uses SoundToxins phytoplankton monitoring data to prioritize sample locations and shellfish testing frequency. This is an essential function of our early warning system to better protect public health.

For shellfish safety information including current closure sites, click here.

Participants

Jerry Borchert and Tracie Barry

King County Environmental Lab

King County staff routinely collects and analyzes phytoplankton samples from Puget Sound. Samples for phytoplankton analysis as well as domoic acid and a suite of water quality parameters are collected by David Robinson using Niskin bottles biweekly (March-October) from three Central Basin locations: northern open water (Point Jefferson), southern open water (East Passage), and Dockton Park at Quartermaster Harbor. Gabriela Hannach is a senior scientist leading the identification of marine phytoplankton and shares this data with the SoundToxins monitoring program.

Participants

Gabriela Hannach

Gabriela Hannach





Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Participants

Dana Woodruff

SoundToxins is managed by:



Washington Sea Grant


Washington State Department of Health

Contacts:

Michelle Lepori-Bui — Program Manager
| 206-543-0820