4 September, 2008

SHELLFISH producers in Shetland have been invited to a two day workshop on the rapid testing of shellfish for algal toxins.

The training course, at Scalloway’s NAFC Marine Centre on 17 and 18 September, will be led by Hans Kleivdal, of Biosense Laboratories AS, in Norway.

A team from FRS Marine Laboratory, in Aberdeen, and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), in Oban, will also be involved.

The course will give an overview of control measures to hinder the harvesting and processing of contaminated shellfish, and also covers specific hands-on training on how to test for shellfish toxins using commercial kits.

Organised through an EU research programme, the project focuses on the development of 'early warning' tools for detection.

Dr Hans Kleivdal said: "An important part of the project is to provide training to quality control personnel in the shellfish industry in the use of simple, sensitive and robust tests for the detection of algal toxins.

"Rapid testing for shellfish toxins on-site enables an immediate response to elevated toxin levels and will be useful for making sound decisions before shellfish harvest and during processing," he said.