Vancouver Island University efforts help reinforce food sovereignty for coastal Indigenous people
When it’s feeding time, Vancouver Island University biology student Chloe McLaughlin carefully scoops a palm-sized green sea urchin out of a tank.
Coastal Indigenous communities are at higher risk of being affected by paralytic shellfish poison because their diets rely more heavily on seafood than those of the general population, Green says. A person in Bella Bella, for example, eats about 24 times more seafood than someone in Kelowna. The ultimate goal is to create a portable and accessible testing kit that can be widely distributed to remote communities to accurately test for biotoxins that can be lethal when consumed but have no taste or smell and can’t be cooked off, Green said.“Could we eventually get a test that’s reliable and easy to use like a pregnancy test or COVID RAT rapid antigen test into Indigenous communities which could tell people if the seafood is safe to eat? That’s our aim,” Green said.
Bateman said the current testing method is “expensive, complex and infrastructure heavy” and requires highly trained chemists to prepare live samples for testing on “very expensive chemistry instruments.” Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning “feels like you’re going to die but you will survive,” Bateman said. It causes diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and cramps.
Warming oceans are supporting more frequent red tide blooms and the season is getting longer, starting during a warm spring and lasting into the fall, Bateman said. Anyone who eats shellfish and experiences tingling in their mouth, jaw or hands should call 911 or poison control right away. Shucking needs to be done carefully. If a bivalve’s guts are ruptured, it can change the pH of the tissue and create false test results, Bateman said.
McLaughlin is trying to see if green sea urchins absorb PSP into their gonads, also called “uni,” which can be a valuable food source as they are high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids, similar to salmon.
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