Seafood Safety

Principal Investigator: Ike Levine, Lewiston-Auburn College

Funder: Northeastern University

Lewiston-Auburn College´s Aquatic Research Lab is a subcontractor to Northeastern University, which in turn is a subcontractor to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Levine´s research will focus on:

  1. Improving the understanding of the salt requirements for growing Porphyra yezoensis blades in order to reduce their salinity requirements for cultivation;
  2. Investigating the molecular biology of osmoregulation in Porphyra; and
  3. Investigating alternative commercial uses for Porphyra.

The safety of our seafood, from both wild and aquacultured sources, is a growing concern and significant health issue in the US and elsewhere The application of polyculture to reduce nutrients levels in effluents discharged from aquaculture systems is a very important area of research that has the potential to contribute significantly to the sustainability of aquaculture and the overall environmental health of our inland and coastal waterways.

The overall objective is: "To develop new solutions to marine and freshwater pollution.´ The project´s primary purpose is to develop techniques for the remediation of pollution in both coastal and freshwater environments. The technologies should be cost effective and safe for the environment by establishing the marine equivalent to a technology known as phytoremdiation. Phytoremediation is a fast-growing technology in which higher plants are used to degrade and detoxify (i.e. remediate) toxic compounds on land. This should result in healthier aquatic environments, as well as safer seafood and freshwater fish.

1). To develop technologies for reducing the level of organic nutrients (N and P) released from marine and freshwater fish aquaculture into the environment, therefore making such industries more environmentally friendly and supportable. This objective helps protect our fish aquaculture industries.

2). To develop techniques for the removal and/or detoxification of toxic heavy metals like mercury and arsenic, and man-made contaminants like TNT and PCBs. Despite the harmful effects of these two heavy metals to humans, there is no cost effective and ecologically safe method for removing mercury, arsenic and other toxic compounds from marine and freshwater environments. The method currently used for decontaminating toxic marine and freshwater sediments is to dredge up the sediment and bury it somewhere else. This method is generally too expensive and too dangerous to the environment to be carried out by municipalities.