All razor clamming closed

[rogerdodger]

the entire Oregon Coast is now closed to Razor Clamming due to high DA levels. bummer. unless you are a razor clam..

domoic acid is not something you want to ingest, I had a mild case of DA poisoning in Singapore about 10 years ago, it was terrible, still can't eat scallops...didn't get it from a hawker centre (street food court) where I had good eats all the time but from a fancy dim sum place in a big name hotel...

 

[fishtales]

Thanks for posting this. Is this considered what they call a red tide?

 

[rogerdodger]

Thanks for posting this. Is this considered what they call a red tide?

yes, "Red Tide" is a common term for increased levels of DA caused by diatoms.

Domoic acid:

Domoic acid, which causes Amnesiac Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), is manufactured by a group of naturally occurring diatoms (Pseudo-nitzschia) which occasionally blooms off the west coast. It was first discovered in razor clams in 1991 and subsequently razor clams, oysters, crab, and mussels have been sampled routinely since then.
The diatom and associated domoic acid is not new. However, our knowledge of its life history and the effects on humans is growing.
Symptoms include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache, confusion, dizziness, short-term memory loss and death. Symptoms usually occur between 24 and 48 after consumption of the contaminated shellfish.
Razor clams tend to accumulate more domoic acid than bay clams and retain it longer. Mussels can accumulate high levels but it depurates in a matter of weeks.
Domoic acid isn’t believed to hurt razor clams themselves.
Depuration rates of domoic acid in razor clams vary depending upon the size of the clam. Toxicity in young clams can be reduced with clam growth, (juveniles grow rapidly, increasing body mass) reducing toxins quickly; whereas in older clams mass increases slowly, reducing toxin levels slowly.
Due to the diatoms preference for oceanic areas, blooms containing domoic acid have more effect on oceanic areas than estuarine (bay).
Freezing, cooking or other treatment has no effect on the toxin level.

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/shellfish/razorclams/biotoxins.asp

 

[qwhacker]

Does this pose a threat to any other kind of clams?


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[rogerdodger]

Does this pose a threat to any other kind of clams?

in most cases there is little or no danger to bay clams due to a couple of reasons noted above- the diatoms responsible for DA occur mostly in the ocean and not bays or estuaries, and razor clams accumulate DA faster and retain it longer...mussels accumulate it but flush out the DA quickly. cheers, roger