BFAR lifts Bataan red tide alert, says shellfish safe to eat

To gather, sell and eat shellfish in Bataan is no longer banned since the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) lifted the red tide alert in the province northwest of Manila.   In its latest bulletin, BFAR declared Bataan coastal waters now free from the paralytic shellfish poison.   “Red tide monitoring activities showed shellfish collected from Bataan coastal waters including Mariveles, Limay, Orion, Pilar, Balanga, Orani, Abucay and Samal towns are now negative of red tide toxin,” said the BFAR report signed by officer-in-charge Remedios Ongtanco.   “Negative results for paralytic shellfish poison were obtained from three consecutive weeks of sampling in the said area,” the report noted.   Shellfish farmers and gatherers expressed happiness over the lifting of the red tide alert in Bataan, while provincial agriculture officials announced to the public that harvested shellfish from the coastal waters are now safe for consumption.   The red tide phenomenon has been occurring in the waters of Bataan–just north of Manila Bay’s mouth–almost yearly. This latest case started in last November when an elderly woman died and four others were hospitalized in Samal after eating the meat of sunset shells, or sulib, with paralytic shellfish poisoning.  Sulib samples from the town registered a toxicity level of 4,880 saxitoxin (STX) grams per 100 grams of shellfish meat. The tolerable limit is only 60 STX grams per 100 grams. —Gianfranco C. Geronimo/VS, GMA News