SHELLFISH PRODUCERS based in remote locations may be able to conduct their own scientific tests for algal toxins with new technology under development at NUI Galway.
EU funding of €1.6 million has been given to NUI Galway’s (NUIG) Martin Ryan Institute for the research project.
It aims to benefit shellfish producers in remote European coastal areas, including Ireland, Scotland, Norway and the Faroe Islands, where access to laboratories can take time.
Funding from the EU Northern Periphery Programme had been secured by an NUIG team led by Dr Robin Raine. Toxins caused by harmful algal blooms are a serious environmental problem worldwide, Dr Raine said.
While they are harmless to shellfish, they can cause a variety of serious gastrointestinal and neurological disorders if consumed by humans.
Under EU directives, all coastal member states are required to monitor the presence of toxin-producing plankton in coastal waters, and toxin levels in shellfish. In Ireland, this is carried out by the Marine Institute in Galway.
NUIG scientists are also working on more accurate predictions of harmful algal blooms which cause the toxins in the first place. Some 60 international delegates involved in a Unesco-sponsored project, Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (Geohab), are attending a training workshop at NUIG.
Ireland’s shellfish industry is currently valued at €63 million a year.
However, annual losses sustained by Irish farmers through toxin contamination, combined with the cost of monitoring the presence of these toxins, amounts to over €3 million annually.
