BFAR washes hands off Albay red tide deaths

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) on Sunday washed its hands off the deaths of three children due to red tide poisoning in Albay province. A GMA Flash Report quoted BFAR officials as saying that they conduct regular tests and release safety bulletins on coastal areas showing continued presence of red tide contamination. The BFAR also said the shellfish ban remains in effect over Sorsogon Bay and Juag Lagoon in Matnog town, and that sampling of water and shellfishes are being conducted weekly in these areas and advisories and bulletins are regularly release twice a month. BFAR made the statement after Albay Governor Jose Sarte Salceda on Saturday blamed the bureau for the deaths of Mae Billones, 8; Janalyn Rialco, 4; and Paulo Dolz, 4. Aside from the three fatalities, 35 others were hospitalized due to red tide. Salceda said that had the BFAR put up checkpoints, the contaminated shellfish would not have been distributed and sold in the markets. He said the shellfish ban imposed by BFAR is inefficient and ineffective due to failure of execution and without implementing checkpoints. He likewise stressed that since shellfish is sold at a very low price, most of the market vendors exploit it. To further prevent the transporting of shellfish to other regions, Salceda ordered the police provincial office to conduct checkpoints on trucks possibly carrying shellfish. Red tide poisoning is caused by the presence of the toxic dinoflagellate known as Pyrodinium bahamense var compressum in shellfishes. Being a filter feeder, mussels and oysters accumulates the dinoflagellate in its system yet is not affected by the toxin. On the other hand, people who eat the contaminated shellfish are very sensitive to the toxin, and in lethal doses could even cause deaths. BFAR is advising consumers to be extra vigilant and cautious in buying shellfishes from areas that are positive from red tide. - GMANews.TV