The state of California has opted to restrict commercial fishing for Pacific sardine off the state’s southern coast after health agencies detected elevated levels of domoic acid in multiple samples.
Domoic acid is a naturally occurring neurotoxin created by marine alga. The toxin can accumulate in fish without causing illness; however, it can cause a number of health problems for humans. In higher doses, it can even prove fatal.
“Domoic acid poisoning in humans may occur within minutes to hours after consumption of affected seafood and can result in signs and symptoms ranging from vomiting and diarrhea to permanent loss of short-term memory (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning), coma, or death,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charles Bonham said in a 9 May memo.
After samples showed higher levels of domoic acid in the fish, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced that the consumption of the Pacific sardine “poses significant risk” of exposure.
In response, CDFW decided to restrict the commercial and recreational harvest of Pacific sardines from Point Conception south to the Mexico border solely to live bait uses.
“This restriction of take for human consumption will remain in place until I am notified by public health agencies ... that a health hazard regarding Pacific sardine no longer exists,” Bonham said in the order.
