Shellfish contaminated with paralytic shellfish poisons (PSP) compromise human health. The threat of this contamination results in enormous economic losses in the recreational and commercial exploitation of shellfish resources in the affected areas. Most states deal with the PSP problem either by prohibiting the collection of shellfish during certain time periods or by instituting monitoring programs. The only recognized method of analysis for PSP that is currently and routinely used in monitoring programs is the time-of-death mouse bioassay. Several attempts to develop simple and highly specific biochemical assays for the detection and quantitation of the PSP toxins have been reported. More recently, much improved immunoassays have been developed. To evaluate the validity and usefulness of the immunoassay for the determination of PSP toxins, the authors have used extracts of shellfish gathered from Maine and Connecticut to compare the results of the mouse bioassay and HPLC methods with the radioimmunoassay developed previously.