Harmful algal bloom events are becoming more common in Alaska due to climate change, raising risks for paralytic shellfish toxins in the marine food web. This project from the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve conducted proof-of-concept activities for forage fish husbandry to address a lack of data-driven information on toxin exposure. The work aimed to facilitate collaborative science and secure future funding for multi-year research on this delivery pathway to upper-trophic populations.
Use Cases
- Modeling toxin transfer pathways to marine mammals and seabirds based on the described forage fish consumption mechanism.
- Planning future field studies on paralytic shellfish toxin exposure based on the proof-of-concept husbandry activities.
- Assessing climate change impacts on harmful algal bloom frequency in Alaska based on the described link to rising ocean temperatures.
Strengths
- Project is associated with the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, the only NERR in Alaska.
- Description explicitly links climate change, rising ocean temperatures, and increasing harmful algal bloom events.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data is provided as a PDF, which may limit direct machine-readability for analysis.
Provenance
- Source
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
- Collection Method
- Project conducted proof-of-concept activities for forage fish husbandry and engaged with end users to inform a proposal.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-03 13 22:17:58.974915; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Alaska, specifically Kachemak Bay