BIOTOXIN MONITORING
The Coast Salish People have been fishing in the Salish Sea since time immemorial, and depend on the shellfisheries for subsistence, ceremonial, and commercial purposes. Harmful algae and biotoxin events are common along the west coast of the US, and are a persistent threat to shellfisheries. The Northwest Indian College and Lummi Nation have worked together to monitor for biotoxins in Bellingham and Lummi Bays, and have identified the most concerning Salish Sea marine toxin, Paralytic Shellfish Toxins, as needing additional monitoring.
California mussel, Mytilus californianus.
Art by Thayne Yazzie
Collecting data by boat at one of the SSRC's monitoring locations.
Our current research program has documented marine biotoxins in shellfish in Salish Sea waters, utilizing our three marine monitoring stations, pictured at top, left,
At the SSRC, we maintain four monitoring sites within the Salish Sea. At each site, we