The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) produce a weekly online early warning of harmful algal and biotoxin risk for the shellfish industry.

This online early warning system alerts producers to naturally occurring increases in algal blooms and biotoxin levels in our waters, normally during the summer months, when there is an increase in water temperatures. This valuable forecast of the risk from HABs and their biotoxins affords our shellfish producers the opportunity to put mitigation measures in place ahead of any threat.

Shetland’s seafood industry is justly proud and very protective of its reputation for providing premium quality shellfish, so our producers work very hard to make sure that any issues are detected at an early stage and harvesting is suspended until they can be sure that any threat has passed.