A statistical examination of the ability of phytoplankton monitoring to act as an indicator of toxin accumulation in the blue mussel

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Members of the dinoflagellate genus Dinophysis have been associated with the production of the shellfish toxin okadaic acid (OA). Consumption of shellfish containing high concentrations of this toxin can pose a serious risk to human health. A comprehensive monitoring programme (measuring the concentrations of algal toxins in shellfish flesh and the cell densities of the causative organisms in the water column) currently operates in Scotland fulfilling the requirements of the EU shellfish hygiene directive 91/492/EEC. However, as water and shellfish are sampled at differing frequencies through the year, it is difficult to model the data statistically. Therefore, a high frequency sampling programme was established in Loch Ewe (NW Scotland) from April 2001 – March 2003 to allow a statistical examination of the relationship between the occurrence of Dinophysis species and OA.