PROGRAM FOR MONITORING THE QUALITY OF WATER, MOLLUSK AND TOXIC FITOPLANCTON OF THE SEAFOOD PRODUCTION AREAS OF THE CATALAN LITORAL.
The Monitoring Program for the Quality of Waters, Mollusks and Toxic Phytoplankton of the Seafood Production Areas of the Catalan Coast of the DGPAM (PSQAM) is executed by the IRTA Marine and Continental Waters Program, commissioned by the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs and Sustainable Fisheries from Generalitat of Catalonia. Through this program, Regulation EU 2019/627 is complied with in relation to official controls regarding live bivalve mollusks from classified production areas.
The PSQAM began in 1990, since then its design has been adapted to legislative changes, technical advances and scientific advances. The microbiological quality of mollusks, the presence of toxin-producing plankton in the waters, and of biotoxins and chemical contaminants in the mollusks are controlled. Regulation (EC) 853/2004 identifies the biotoxins legislated and the maximum limits allowed.
Analytics are performed using accredited methodologies in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017, as indicated by Regulation EU 2017/625.
In the Accreditations section you can consult the technical annex of the accredited methodologies.
The classified production areas of bivalve mollusks and gastropods, echinoderms and tunicates on the coast of Catalonia are listed in Order AAM/89/2011.
The Legislation section contains expanded information on the applicable legislation and good practice guides.
The Marine and Continental Waters Program participates in different research projects, some of them dedicated to the development of new methodologies for the monitoring of toxins and toxic phytoplankton, as well as studies of ecology, population dynamics, and risk analysis. In the research section you can consult the current research projects.
PSQAM Coordinator: Jorge Diogène Fadini (jorge.diogene@irta.cat).
Technical Management of phytoplankton control and environmental parameters: Margarita Fernández Tejedor (margarita.fernandez@irta.cat).
Technical Directorate for the control of toxins and contaminants: Maria Rambla (maria.rambla@irta.cat).
Technical Department of the microbiology laboratory: Núria Sagristà (nuria.sagrista@irta.cat).