Knowledge Warding Against Toxin Levels

The tribally led Knowledge Warding Against Toxin Levels Center for Oceans and Human Health will be directed by a Tribal government’s Resource Protection Division Director and Co-Directed by a public health academic. The purpose of the Center will be to address key unknowns surrounding paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), which the Fourth National Climate Assessment called a “public health emergency” (page 1203). This will be done by using a mixed-methods approach overall, with proven laboratory-based techniques (RBA and HPLC) to assess toxin levels in shellfish from coastal communities around Alaska, complemented by interviews and surveys of residents of Gulf of Alaska communities that have reported at least some PSP burden. The Center will have 3 Cores: Administrative Core, Facility Service Core, and Community Engagement Core. The Administrative Core will be run by the government of Sitka Tribe of Alaska, a federally recognized tribe. Its purpose will be to provide oversight, guidance, and direction to all Projects and other Cores. The Facility Service Core will be run by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Lab, to provide a centralized location for the processing of all shellfish samples that will produce useful data for the Projects and community. The Community Engagement Core will be run by the Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and Tribal Organization and facilitate community engagement activities. The Center will conduct 3 projects: Project 1 will assess the impacts of environmental and oceanographic shifts, including sea-level rise, on shellfish toxin exposure using multiple approaches, including model-based forecasting and laboratory-based experiments; Project 2 will evaluate the toxicity of specific toxin congeners occurring as mixtures in shellfish; and Project 3 will characterize community views and dietary practices and clarify the burden of PSP disease through interviews and a community survey.