Natural Marine Toxins

Seafood safety is critical to the viability of the growing Canadian aquaculture industry. In 2000, Canadian aquaculture industries produced 124,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish worth a record $612 M. The safety and high quality of Canadian fish and seafood products are recognized in more than 80 countries.

Our Natural Toxins program helps to maintain this legacy of safe and high quality seafood by coupling a concentration of expertise with comprehensive investigative capabilities. Working closely with other federal government agencies like the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and Health Canada, we have an international reputation for toxin identification capabilities.

The value of our commitment to maintaining a high level of preparedness for response to toxic and harmful algal incidents was proven in 1987, when we rapidly isolated and identified the toxin Domoic Acid. This toxin was the cause of the much-publicized shellfish toxin crisis in which three people died and there was a temporary shut-down of the regional shellfish industry.

Through our expertise in marine phycotoxins, we protect:

• against shellfish losses
• the health of consumers,
• and the stability of industry worldwide.

We develop and validate analytical methods for toxins in plankton and seafood, and prepare toxin calibration standards and reference materials. Our Certified Reference Materials Program (CRMP) is the world’s only producer of many Certified Reference Materials for shellfish toxins. Used by analysts and customers in more than 80 countries, CRMP enables the monitoring of environmental pollutants.

We have expertise in the biology, ecology, genetics, biogeography and physiology of marine microalgae, with a focus on harmful species responsible for shellfish poisoning in humans, finfish mortalities and other damaging effects to marine ecosystems.

With additional expertise in bio-organic/natural products chemistry, we are interested in investigating bioactive components that have nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, agricultural or aquacultural applications.