algae bloom

[Fish Tales]

Lake Erie Charter Boat Association has been on the toxic algae issue from the beginning. For the last 3 years a group of Lake Erie Charter Boat Captains from the Maumee Bay to Kelly’s Island have been gathering water samples on a weekly basis, in conjunction with The Ohio State University and the OEPA. Last year we enlarged our scope to include taking walleye tissue samples where we collect the water. This testing was started in the height of last year’s bloom and was reinstituted three weeks ago and the Ohio State University is responsible for analyzing the tissue. There have been no reports of microcystin in the tissue of these fish.


Kevin

[igotgills2]

Wakina raises some very good points about the situation. I'm sure many would like to understand how this keeps occurring and then reliable recommendations to the public based on timely information.

Curious why Ohio State began testing fish again 3 weeks ago if it was related to the Sandusky or Monroe, Mi algae bloom, but no precautions or warnings were issued until this past weekend? When Ohio Sea Grant personnel make statements like this, it causes me to wonder how far down the rabbit hole do we need to go to get the real answer?
"However, fish subjected to high concentrations of algal toxins can have those toxins present in their fillets, at least temporarily (e.g., note this research by Schmidt et al. 2013). The bottom line is if you know algal toxins or a cyanobacterial/blue-green algae bloom to be present, it's probably prudent to be conservative in your choices to harvest and consume fish."

I have concerns with the statements begin made by the authorities, and I am certain that the wording was intentional.

"if the fish is cleaned properly" it "should be safe for consumption"........... "Should"?

"Mother Nature has been waving a big, red flag about this issue for quite a while, and it looks like nobody was watching or paying attention.” Guess they got that one right.