A trailer for an educational film about testing for safe shellfish.
Shellfish absorb biotoxins. With climate change, waters are warmer and that increases the potential for more biotoxins. Consuming untested shellfish can lead to Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning. That leaves harvesters with only two options: 1) don’t go clamming or 2) find a way to test your shellfish. Until recently, the only lab capable of testing shellfish was the State of Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Lab in Anchorage. That lab is already prohibitively far away for most Southeast Alaskan users, but it also prioritizes commercial samples. That meant that for people in Southeast, the only safe way to eat shellfish was to buy them from the store. The Sitka Tribe of Alaska built an Environmental Research Lab (STAERL, pronounced “sterile”) gives shellfish harvesters around Southeast a way of testing subsistence shellfish.
The full film will soon be available to watch at www.seator.org
Harvey Kitka, kogwanton clan
One of the goals of Artchange, Inc is to collaborate with Tribes, Non-profits and Universities to inform, educate and keep communities and people doing what they care about in a way that is healthy and sustainable.