Photo for illustration. (Photo: iStock)
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) warns the public not to collect or consume wild shellfish in Saldanha on the West Coast and surrounding coastal areas until further notice.
The warning follows after very high levels of paralytic shellfish toxins were detected in mussels and oysters on the Saldanha Bay farms during monitoring this week.
Toxic levels were recorded that exceeded the regulatory safety limit by 15 times.
Photo for illustration. (Photo: iStock)
Zolile Ngayi, spokesperson for the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, says high concentrations of toxin-producing phytoplankton (Alexandrium catenella) have also been recorded, which indicates a significant harmful algal bloom.
The production areas in Saldanha are reportedly closed to harvesting for human consumption.
“At this stage, it is not clear how widely this risk is spread along the West Coast and toxin levels can vary between different areas. Consumption of contaminated shellfish, for example mussels, can cause serious illness such as shellfish poisoning and be life-threatening.”
Ngayi says the public is requested to avoid any wild shellfish from Saldanha and surrounding coastal areas until further notice.
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