Article on domoic acid, crabs, effects on fish, etc.

Great article on domoic acid, crabs, fish, and why there was such an enormous algae bloom on the west coast this year:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151217151655.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Ffisheries+%28Fisheries+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

Some of the more notable quotes:

- The levels of toxin detected this year in the filets of salmon, rockfish, and ling cod were well below the regulatory limits, Kudela said. But once the toxin gets into the muscle tissue, it will stay in the fish and in the food web much longer than if it is just in the intestinal track.

- The prolonged bloom probably also allowed a lot of toxin to build up in sediments on the seafloor, which would explain why Dungeness crabs are still showing high levels of toxin. Previous studies by Kudela's team showed that sediments on the seafloor can hold a reservoir of toxin that lasts for months after the algal bloom goes away. "The crabs are feeding on the seafloor, and all the things they would typically eat can hold the toxin for months," he said. "It could be another month or longer before the toxin in crabs drops below the regulatory limit everywhere in California.

- Now the big question is what the impact of El Niño will be in 2016, because El Niño also brings warm water conditions that can favor toxic algae blooms. Most of the warm water along the California coast in 2015 was from the warm blob, although El Niño probably began contributing to it later in the summer. Historically, El Niño periods have been associated with larger than normal blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia, Kudela said.

"The predictions are for this El Niño to be as strong as the one in 1997-98, when the warm water lasted through 1998. So we could be looking at a big bloom again next year," he said.

Wow!  Thanks for sharing Chris.  I never realized how widespread the bloom was.  All the way up to Alaska.  And it looks like we get to deal with it again this year. 

Dang. I am wanting a crab dinner but guess I'm waiting a while longer to go drop traps

Whatever happened to the people who were eating rock crab before the season was closed? Makes me wonder, it seems it only closed when it was time for dungeness.

Whatever happened to the people who were eating rock crab before the season was closed? Makes me wonder, it seems it only closed when it was time for dungeness.

+1.

-Allen

Whatever happened to the people who were eating rock crab before the season was closed? Makes me wonder, it seems it only closed when it was time for dungeness.

I know someone who wound up in the ER just a couple weeks before they announced the closure - extreme fever, dramatic swings in blood pressure, etc. Doctors never figured out what it was. Made perfect sense when I found out about the "demonic" acid.

Surprised nobody died (or maybe they did).

I know someone who wound up in the ER just a couple weeks before they announced the closure - extreme fever, dramatic swings in blood pressure, etc. Doctors never figured out what it was. Made perfect sense when I found out about the "demonic" acid.

He cot the vapors.

But what about the sardines and macks???  If it wont send me to the ER, i'm angling for some to try a recipe seen on Martha Stewart

I know someone who wound up in the ER just a couple weeks before they announced the closure - extreme fever, dramatic swings in blood pressure, etc. Doctors never figured out what it was. Made perfect sense when I found out about the "demonic" acid.

He cot the vapors.

But what about the sardines and macks???  If it wont send me to the ER, i'm angling for some to try a recipe seen on Martha Stewart

Gonna cook em in that new gadget you got from HSN?

Also what about sand dabs? They are bottom feeders, does it mean they are still eating the dead algae on the ocean floor?

Makes me wonder about cabezon.  I cleaned one that had over 20 crabs, one about 3 inches, in its gut.

I got a whole Cabby in the freezer imma bury it for fertiizer