Abstract

In 2007, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed a case of ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) from a Gag Grouper caught in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). As a response, researchers from FGBNMS and University of Texas Marine Science Institute sampled 12 species of fish around the FGBNMS for ciguatoxins. The analysis by FDA resulted in high levels of ciguatoxins in 13% of the sampled fish, leading FDA to issue a letter of guidance to seafood processors recommending they avoid purchasing large carnivorous reef fish caught near FGBNMS. In 2011, FGBNMS researchers were notified of another CFP case from the consumption of Grouper caught within the sanctuary, which was confirmed by the FDA. This led FGBNMS and FDA to begin a collaborative study to reexamine ciguatera in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico. The study is examining the concentrations of ciguatoxins in a variety of carnivorous reef fish species, as well as concentrations of ciguatera causing dinoflagellates (Gambierdiscus spp.) found on algae. Ongoing opportunistic fish sampling is currently underway, looking at various species of Snapper, Grouper, Jack, and Mackerel, and invasive Pacific lionfish, as well as other commercially and recreationally important species. In order to more fully understand the human health issues of consuming fish caught in the sanctuary, FGBNMS researchers are also investigating mercury levels of sampled fish species.

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