Consumer Warning Issued for Shellfish, Lobster, Crabs, et al.

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 27, 2007 at 12:19 PM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

State health officials have issued a warning about eating certain local shellfish and seafood. Officials say it may be contaminated with a toxic acid. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

State health officials have issued a warning about eating certain local shellfish and seafood. Officials say it may be contaminated with a toxic acid. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Health officials say we should avoid eating sport-harvested shellfish, sardines, anchovies, lobsters and crabs caught off the coast between Orange County and Santa Barbara. A bloom of ocean algae produces a naturally-occurring domoic acid.

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The algae population grows or "blooms" every year as our ocean waters warm. But this year's bloom came earlier than normal. Researchers say the acid has sickened and killed more than 40 birds, sea lions and dolphins off our coastline.

In San Pedro, International Bird Rescue Center director Jay Holcomb says : The acid attacks the brain and can cause seizures.

Staff at Laguna Beach's Pacific Marine Mammal Center say they have treated 14 sea lions for the acid poisoning. Seven died.

Domoic acid is produced by microscopic algae. Birds and sea mammals ingest the acid by eating fish and shellfish that consume the algae. People who eat the tainted seafood and shellfish can experience nausea, seizures and death. Environmentalists say birds and other animals suffering from domoic acid poisoning have been washing up on shores from San Diego to San Francisco Bay.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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