Grant: Alliance Grants

Summary of proposed research (250 words)Aquaculture farms situated on the coast are sometimes exposed to toxins present in sea water. For shellfish production, harmful algal blooms (HAB) result in harvest closure and economic loss. An early warning system could minimize these damages by anticipating the onset of toxins before bivalve harvest closure, which could facilitate management practices, like transfer to wet storage facilities to maintain commercialization. During contaminants exposure by synthetic substance, mussels closed their valves to isolate from the environment (Durier et al., 2021). However, during the exposure to Paralytic Shellfish poisoning (PSP) produced by Alexandrium catanella, mussels paralysis was detected, with a valve opening higher than the normal behaviour (Durier et al, 2022 submitted). The objective of the development of an early warning system for harmful algal bloom is to detect the behavioural change before reaching the legal threshold for harvesting closure. In 2019, the monitoring of mussel gaping allowed the detection of Alexandrium catenella 10 days before reaching this legal threshold (Durier et al, 2022 submitted). This result is very encouraging, with an interesting anticipation, permitting development of management strategies for the producers. However, before proposing this solution, the system needs to be optimized to guarantee the anticipated detection and the ability of the early warning system to avoid false positives or false negatives. In particular, the interactions with other perturbations like maritime traffic sound must be verified to guarantee the efficacy of the system.