Assessing Research Efforts and Emerging Issues Concerning Forage Fish Exposure to Paralytic Shellfish Toxins in Alaska - NERRS/NSC(NERRS Science Collaborative)

Harmful algal bloom (HAB) events are becoming more common in Alaska as ocean temperatures rise due to climate change. These events carry the risk of producing dangerous levels of HAB-derived toxins in the marine environment, including paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs). PSTs pose a serious threat to uppertrophic populations (e.g., marine mammals, sea birds, predator fish), where a likely mechanism of delivery is via consumption of forage fish that have themselves been exposed to PSTs. Recent statewide occurrences, such as seabird die-off and marine mammal stranding events, have raised concerns about this pathway, highlighting a need to better understand its mechanisms. The issue is a lack of data-driven information regarding PST exposure levels in forage fish due to field data being difficult to obtain. This project sought to facilitate new collaborative science that addressed this issue by becoming better positioned to pursue future funding opportunities (phase I). Our approach was to conduct 'proof of concept' activities for the husbandry of Alaska forage fish species while simultaneously engaging with end users. We used these inputs to inform a proposal that would secure funds for continuation of this effort as a multi-year research project (phase II). As the only National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) in Alaska, the Kachemak Bay NERR was able to act as a collaborative platform bringing necessary expertise within Alaska and nationally to the planning table, as well as engage with end users to ensure that research findings met user needs at various scales.