'Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi'
Abstract
Certain dinoflagellales, diatoms and cyanobacteria produce biotoxins . These marine toxins are
water soluble and heat stable. Shellfishes being filter feeders tend to accumulate these toxins.
After consuming such bivalves ingested with toxin bearing planktons, human toxicity and mortality
has been reported. While we aim for large scale mariculture o f marine bivalve mollusks, the
sanitary conditions in which they grow and their taste quality must be improved and protected.
Mariculture sites should be protected from dumping anthropogenic wastes and regular monitoring
of water quality is very much essential. Stray numbers of toxin bearing microalgae as normally
found in seawater will not be harmful and it becomes when they outbreak and form blooms
