Ocean
Watch
Monday, April 8, 1996
Ciguatera is common,
but it may not be golf's fault
A reader recently asked me to write a column on
ciguatera fish poisoning.
"Is there anything particular you'd like me to
write about?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "I think you should let
people know that pollution running off the island, especially fertilizers
from golf courses, is making ciguatera worse."
Is it? I wondered. She sounded so sure.
I called University of Hawaii marine toxin specialist
Dr. Yosh Hokama. "What a coincidence," Dr. Hokama said when I
told him the story.
"Just yesterday we asked the UH Sea Grant Program
for funding to study the growth of algae and other marine organisms off
Hawaii's golf courses.
"We know that golf courses change the quality of
the water around the areas they are built. Some studies show that after
each rainfall, algae bloom and some dinoflagellates proliferate.
"But what effect this has on marine toxins - we
just don't know yet."
BESIDES runoff pollution, our porous islands also allow
rain, fertilizers and other surface substances to soak through the soil,
entering the ocean through underwater springs.
Injections of such nutrients into surrounding waters,
from both runoff and seepage, are like showers in a desert. Tiny marine
plants and animals thrive.
Is this causing ciguatera fish poisoning to increase in
Hawaiian waters?
It's a leap that Dr. Hokama isn't willing to make. No
one knows yet if such blooms also include an increase in numbers of the
dinoflagellate that causes ciguatera fish poisoning, Gambierdiscus toxicus.
Perhaps growth of this organism is a normal,
fluctuating condition of the ocean that has little to do with human
proceedings.
Ciguatera is not a new affliction.
It was described in 1606 in Vanuatu (formerly the New
Hebrides) and was undoubtedly present long before that.
TODAY, it is the most common cause of seafood poisoning
in the United States. It is also common in certain Caribbean and South
Pacific countries.
About 50,000 cases per year are recorded worldwide from
many places that don't have golf courses or much else in the way of
development.
It is true that more cases of ciguatera have been
reported in Hawaii and the world during the past two decades than ever
before.
But more people are fishing, and eating fish, than ever
before. Also, public awareness of this poisoning is higher today than in
previous decades, resulting in more reports of the illness.
The number of cases reported in Hawaii over the past
six years shows no trend.
In 1989, there were 84 cases reported. In 1990, 52
cases; in 1991, 138 cases; in 1992, 34 cases; in 1993, 86 cases; and in
1994, 63 cases.
Dr. Hokama and his colleagues are also interested in
the 1994 illness of eight people who ate "short ogo" (limu
manauea) from Maui.
One of Dr. Hokama's workers recently discovered a
blue-green algae growing on the surface of the suspect seaweed. That algae
produces aplysatoxin, a potent marine poison.
No one knows what caused this unusual growth.
ARE golf courses trouble for Hawaii's ocean waters? The
only way to know for sure is to spend money on studies.
I know, there's little funding for such research. But
without examining the situation with rigorous scientific standards, it's
all just guesswork.
Hippocrates said, "There are two things, science
and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance."
I hope Dr. Hokama gets his grant.
